No Tyrese Proctor, no problem, turned to no Cooper Flagg, no problem, for part of Duke’s 100-65 win against Florida State Saturday night. Despite the junior guard’s absence due to a knee injury and the freshman suffering a poke to the eye midway through the first half, the Blue Devils crushed the Seminoles for their 26th win of the season.
“I'm really proud of this win,” head coach Jon Scheyer said after the win. “Because we were missing Tyrese and Maliq, [then] Cooper goes out in the first half, and it was really what a team is all about. So many guys stepped up and that’s what I’m really proud of.”
Isaiah Evans made his first start in Duke blue in place of Proctor, with his introduction earning roars in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The freshman forward missed his first two 3-point attempts early on, but a nifty Kon Knueppel and-one and an alley-oop from Flagg to Khaman Maluach helped the Blue Devils take an early 9-4 lead with four minutes gone.
At the 11-minute mark of the first period, Flagg suffered a hard fall after an aggressive foul and headed to the locker room with an apparent eye injury, sidelining him for the remainder of the half. The moment could have derailed Duke’s momentum, especially after Florida State's Taylor Bol Bowen swished a three and cut down the Blue Devil lead to 16-14. But Duke’s supporting cast stepped up, embarking on an 14-0 run bookended by two Mason Gillis threes and including Evans’ first deep-range make.
In Flagg’s absence, a lineup of Knueppel, Evans, Gillis, Darren Harris and Patrick Ngongba II shone on both ends of the floor, extending Duke’s lead to 35-18 before the Blue Devils’ next substitution. Harris’ inclusion was particularly noteworthy after his struggles for playing time this season; the freshman immediately repaid head coach Jon Scheyer’s gamble by converting a tough layup at the rim.
“Coach Scheyer has been in my ear the last couple of days with Tyrese being out,” Harris said. “This season has been great for the team and all, but it’s new for me not playing a lot, not knowing when my number is gonna be called. But [Scheyer] really instilled confidence in me.”
The Blue Devils (26-3, 17-1 in the ACC) displayed a masterclass in the “next man up” mentality throughout the opening period. Despite missing arguably its two best players in Flagg and Proctor, Duke headed to the locker room up 47-30 thanks to a supremely balanced effort from its role players and reserves. The Blue Devils’ dominance on the glass, featuring 12 first-half offensive rebounds, led to numerous second-chance opportunities for Duke’s deep squad. Not a single Blue Devil scored double-digit points in the first half, yet six amassed at least four points, with Knueppel, Evans and Gillis leading the way with nine. Duke also had zero turnovers in the opening period for the first time since 2021.
Flagg reentered the contest at the start of the second period, bloodied and bruised. While Duke excelled in the freshman’s absence, it sure didn’t hurt to have a National Player of the Year contender and likely future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick running the show. The Newport, Maine, native displayed his typical dominance on both ends of the floor, finishing the encounter with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists despite his injury.
With 16 minutes left in the game, Duke’s superstar freshmen delivered a stunning sequence of events to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 61-35. First, Flagg launched a perfectly placed alley-oop to Maluach, who emphatically slammed the dunk home above a Seminole defender. Then, Florida State’s Christian Nitu saw his layup attempt swatted away by Flagg. Knueppel capped off the attack by barrelling through contact and attempting a contested layup. The ball spun into the rim, awarding Knueppel an and-one and sending Cameron Indoor into a deafening frenzy.
“I think [this was] a response just to the evolution of the season,” Scheyer said of his team’s recent form. “We really focus on making sure we get better each week. We’re getting better every game and the team has really embraced that. It’s been a different way of winning, while still having the sharing on offense and the competitiveness on defense.”
Scheyer continued capitalizing on his team’s depth throughout the second half, with Ngongba and Harris particularly playing unusually lengthy periods throughout the victory. The second half saw Duke defend its comfortable lead with steady offense and elite rebounding; the Blue Devils amassed 49 rebounds — Maluach led the way with 10. Evans finished as Duke’s leading scorer, totaling a career-high 19 points in his starting debut.
Before the game, the Blue Devils honored Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton, who will retire upon this season’s conclusion after 23 years at the helm of the program. That was the final act of generosity Duke would bestow upon the Seminoles thanks to the impressive all-around effort from the Blue Devils’ deep squad.
For their last home game of the 2024-25 season, the Blue Devils will welcome Wake Forest back in Cameron Indoor Monday, looking to extend their six-game win streak ahead of the March 8 season finale at North Carolina.
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Rodrigo Amare is a Trinity sophomore and assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.