Once again, the Blue Devils begin the game by taking shots to the chin, this time from a short-handed Louisville squad, to the tune of a 10-3 run to begin the game. Slow starts have been quite the story for this Duke team, and there’s no real, clear-cut, obvious reason why. The Cardinals shot the ball at a 50% clip heading into the locker room and enjoyed a 4-point halftime lead. Duke was able to keep the game close by capitalizing on 10 first-half Louisville turnovers to the tune of 14 Blue Devil points. The Cardinals shot the ball incredible well from beyond the arc, shooting 8-16; some shots were open, some shots were the type where you tip your cap. More often than not, the shots were open due to bad closeouts – if any—or missed defensive rotations—something that has plagued the Blue Devils at times this season even with their vaunted defense.
Duke seemed to come out of their first half slumber, but not until the Cardinals had expanded their 4-point halftime lead to 7 at the 12:16 mark of the second half. 3 minutes later the game was tied at 55 one a Sion James Dunk, and a minute after that the Blue Devils wrestled away the lead for good on a Maliq Brown layup on an assist from Kon Knueppel. From that point on, the Blue Devils went on a 23-10 run to end the game with an 11-point victory.
Freshman Cooper Flagg led the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding, notching a double-double in his first ACC game. Flagg also had 2 steals and a block. Tyrese Proctor added 13 for the Blue Devils, hitting on 6 of 13 shots, but only hitting 1 of his 6 3-pointers. Freshman Kon Knueppel added 12 points and dished a team-high 6 assists. Sion James rounds out the double-figure scorers with 11 points.
The Blue Devils don’t win this game without the effort of Maliq Brown. Brown, in addition to his 11 rebounds and 4 steals, played stellar defense throughout the game for the Blue Devils, who were not at their best as a team on that end of the floor. Brown ended the game at a +24.
The Good:
- Just 7 turnovers for the game for Duke
- Only gave up 3 fast break points
- 20-8 edge in points off of turnovers
- 34-14 edge in paint points
The Bad:
- Shot 26.7% from 3
- The comeback, renewed defensive intensity
Game Notes
- Duke outscored Louisville, 43-28, in the second half after trailing by as many as 14 in the first half.
- In the final 12 minutes of play, Duke limited Louisville to just three made shots from the field and only 14 points.
- The 14-point comeback marked the Blue Devils’ largest recovery in a victory since bouncing back from a 16-point deficit against Boston College on Jan. 6, 2021.
- Duke has now started conference play with a win in six of the last seven seasons.
- The Blue Devils are now 53-19 in ACC openers, including a 16-13 mark when those contests are on the road.
- Duke has won nine of the last 12 meetings with Louisville, including six straight, and leads the all-time series 16-9.
- The Blue Devils are now 6-4 against the Cardinals when playing in Louisville, including a 5-3 record in the KFC Yum! Center.
- Duke owns a 17-7 record on Dec. 8, having won six of its last seven and nine of its last 11 games played on this date.
- The Blue Devils improve their record against current ACC members to 999-512.
- The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle (35-34) and has now finished with a positive margin on the boards in seven of the nine games played so far this season.
- Duke’s defense limited Louisville to just 14 points in the paint. The Blue Devils entered the contest allowing just 23.5 points per game in the paint.
- The Blue Devils turned 15 Louisville turnovers into 20 points, while allowing Louisville to only score eight points off Duke’s seven turnovers (three after intermission).
- The Cardinals were limited to just three fast-break points, marking the third straight game that a Duke opponent has scored three or fewer points in transition.
- Cooper Flagg paced the team with 20 points and a season-best 12 rebounds, securing a second consecutive double-double after his 22/11 performance against No. 2 Auburn on Dec. 4.
- Flagg also blocked one shot, swiped two steals and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
- Tyrese Proctor finished with 13 points, second-most on the team.
- Maliq Brown finished with nine points and was a force on the glass, grabbing a season-high 11 caroms. The junior finished with a plus/minus of +24, also swiped three steals and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
- Kon Knueppel scored 12 points, highlighted by two key three-pointers in the second half.
- Knueppel also recorded six assists, two shy of his career high of eight that was set against Kansas on Nov. 26. The freshman has recorded at least two assists in all but one game this season, and has dished at least three dimes in six of the last seven contests.
- Sion James rounded out Duke’s double-figure scorers with 11 points, spearheaded by a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. James also reeled in three boards and tallied one assist, one block and one steal.
