Breaking news:Best center 17 old boy Height: 2.18  and Weight: 113 kg committed to Duke men basketball Over Kentucky and Tennessee welcome…

Breaking news:Best center 17 old boy Height: 2.18  and Weight: 113 kg committed to Duke men basketball Over Kentucky and Tennessee welcome…

 

. – A strong defensive effort by No. 4 Duke and a double-double from Cooper Flagg helped the Blue Devils (13-2, 5-0 ACC) to a 76-47 victory over Pittsburgh (12-3, 3-1 ACC) on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Five Blue Devils finished in double-figures, with Flagg joined by his classmates Kon Knueppel (17) and Khaman Maluach (11), junior Tyrese Proctor (13) and graduate Sion James (10).

Duke closed the game on an 18-0 scoring run and didn’t allow a Pittsburgh point spanning the final 7:59 of the game. Overall, the Blue Devils limited the Panthers to season-lows for points (47), field goals made (18), field goal percentage (.310) and total rebounds (26).

Flagg secured the sixth double-double of his career with 10 boards, while three Blue Devils finished with at least seven rebounds, with Flagg joined by Maluach and James, who reeled in eight and seven, respectively.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

An alley-oop slam by Khaman Maluach on Duke’s first possession quickly put Duke in front. Tyrese Proctor and Sion James both connected on their first three-point attempts of the evening to give Duke an early 8-3 lead.

Cooper Flagg also drilled his first attempt from beyond the arc, giving the Blue Devils an 11-5 advantage after just over five minutes of play. The visitors scored seven straight points grab their first lead of the night, 12-11, as the clock ticked under 11 minutes in the first half. Maluach’s second dunk of the night put Duke back in front, 13-12, at the 9:51 mark.

 

 

 

Duke expanded its lead to 10, 29-19, courtesy of three consecutive three-pointers from Kon Knueppel. The Blue Devils remained ahead by the same margin, 34-24, heading into halftime.

A thunderous dunk through contact by Flagg, followed by a two-handed stuff by the freshman, gave Duke a 42-28 lead after three minutes of second-half action. A Pittsburgh three-pointer pulled the visitors back within 10, 43-33, shortly after the first media timeout of the second stanza.

Knueppel made his fourth three-pointer of the game to give the freshman 17 points and Duke a 17-point lead, 50-33, at the 13:23 mark. Pittsburgh pulled back within 11, 58-47, following a quick 9-2 scoring run and Duke called timeout with 7:49 remaining in the game.

The Blue Devils scored the next eight points, seizing control with a 19-point edge, 66-47, at the final media timeout of the game. Proctor’s second three-pointer of the game made it an 11-point run, and the Blue Devils ended the contest with 18 unanswered points to close out the 76-47 win.

NOTES

The victory marked head coach Jon Scheyer’s 40th win at home as Duke’s head coach. The Blue Devils are 40-3 at Cameron Indoor Stadium during Scheyer’s tenure.

Duke has now won nine straight games, the third-longest active winning streak in the nation.

Duke has won its first five conference games by double-digits, the first time a Duke team has accomplished the feat since the 1998-99 season.

Tuesday night was the 27th meeting between Duke and Pittsburgh, with the Blue Devils improving to 18-9 in the series.

The Blue Devils played the final 7:59 of the game without allowing a Pittsburgh point. Duke ended the game on an 18-0 scoring run after calling a timeout while leading, 58-47.

Duke’s defense continued its streak of holding unranked opponents to less than 65 points. Pittsburgh entered the game averaging 84.1 points per game, third-highest in the conference.