There was always more to Duke than Cooper Flagg, but now the Blue Devils have proven it
There was a dagger, the coup de grace that sent even the students heading down the aisles, and Cooper Flagg was but a spectator.
Maliq Brown made the late 3-pointer that sealed North Carolina’s fate, perhaps the most unlikely candidate Duke had to offer, but an appropriate one on a night when the depth and breadth of Duke’s roster proved telling on the eve of the postseason — and Flagg spent a lot of time watching.
It’s always been clear that there’s more to Duke than Flagg, even if there may be an inherent tendency, and obvious reasons, to give credit to a player who may be leading a two-man race for player of the year. Duke’s roster was constructed around him, and the way the Blue Devils play revolves around him, but he’s merely at the center of an entire basketball ecosystem.
And with Flagg in foul trouble for most of the first half of Saturday’s 82-69 win at the Smith Center to clinch the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament and, with Auburn’s loss to Alabama, almost certainly enter the postseason as the No. 1 team in the country, more of the burden than usual fell to the rest of Duke’s roster, especially when the Tar Heels took advantage of his absence to close the first half before shooting their way to a seven-point lead early in the second half.
“Obviously, Cooper changes everything when he’s on the floor,” Duke guard Sion James said. “We all know how good he is. But the good news about our team is we’ve got guys who can step up when he’s not in there.”
Brown, who had two 3-pointers in 18 weeks coming into the game and had two 3-pointers in 16 minutes of action Saturday, was the tip of Duke’s defensive spear. R.J. Davis had 20 points for North Carolina with 17:43 to go in his 73rd and final game at the Smith Center; Brown’s ability as a secondary defender was a big reason Davis didn’t score after that.
“I thought Maliq Brown was a huge key,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “Him, defensively, he’s their best defensive big. I know they have others that can block and alter shots. But his ability to guard on perimeter, guard in the post, defend without fouling, get steals and deflections, is at an elite level.”
It was Brown’s first game back from a shoulder injury, and Duke coach Jon Scheyer said the time spent shooting instead of practicing apparently paid off. Caleb Foster, meanwhile, came back from depth-chart oblivion.
Foster didn’t play in Monday’s blowout win over Wake Forest — out of the rotation and not subjected to garbage-time duty — but played his way back into consideration in practice and contributed useful minutes off the bench in Flagg’s absence.
“A bunch of guys stepped up tonight,” Flagg said. “Caleb was one of them. He hasn’t been getting his number called as of recently. But he stayed ready, he stayed putting the work in. It just goes to show when he gets his number called he can perform.”
And the rest of the backcourt — James, Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor — all scored in double figures while assuming Flagg’s ballhandling duties, less surprising contributions but no less necessary.
“It’s more than just Cooper,” Hubert Davis said. “That’s why they’re a good basketball team. They’ve got a number of parts that step up and consistently make good plays.”
Duke is unquestionably more than just Cooper, and it always has been, but there’s nothing wrong with getting a little positive reinforcement heading into the ACC tournament in Charlotte and everything that will follow.
To get it against their rival in a game when the Tar Heels in a game they asked the Blue Devils for everything they had, in a building so loud it could make your teeth hurt, isn’t going to hurt a team that has bigger goals than merely sweeping North Carolina.
Duke went through this before, winning at Louisville with Flagg stapled to the bench, but there’s no tougher atmosphere, no more pressure, than this game — especially with North Carolina emptying the tank, R.J. Davis in particular, until the Blue Devils shut him down.
“We grew up a lot today,” James said. “We learned a lot. We’ve been winning a lot of games big, which is great. I hope we keep doing that. But history says it’s not going to be like that every game. We learned how to weather a storm.”
And Flagg, despite missing 11 minutes, still finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks. He didn’t pick up a foul in the second half, in part because North Carolina never seemed to target him.
He scored Duke’s final points with a thunderous dunk, flirting with a technical as he dangled from the rim. At that point, another foul wouldn’t have mattered. Then again, Duke never let the three he did have hurt.
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This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 10:32 PM with the headline "There was always more to Duke than Cooper Flagg, but now the Blue Devils have proven it."
