Dick Vitale shouts out Duke's Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach after Stanford beatdown
02/16/2025 11:38 AM
Duke basketball had some growing pains to work through at the start of the season, but now the Blue Devils are rounding into form. Cooper Flagg and company are absolutely cruising through the ACC after another dominant win, this time in a 106-70 rout of Stanford.
After the game, Flagg and star center Khaman Maluach spent some time with legendary broadcaster Dick Vitale, his family and other fans at the team hotel. Vitale shouted the two freshmen out on social media following the game.
Classy on & off the court is @Cooper_Flagg & his buddy Khaman Maluach who shared time in Hotel Lobby in Durham . @DukeMBB was off the charts today effectively vs @StanfordMBB winning 106 – 70 ! pic.twitter.com/gTiXlApe4z
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 16, 2025
Duke’s victory was never in doubt on Saturday as it established an early lead and never looked back against its new ACC foe. Flagg didn’t need to have a monster day to lead Duke to the win, but he still finished with 19 points, five rebounds and six assists. Maluach was extremely efficient as a scorer on the inside, making eight of his nine shots to score 17 points.
Flagg and Maluach have been two of the best freshmen in the country all season long and are a big reason why Duke has a chance to compete for a national championship this season. The two of them form a monster front line that makes this one of the best defenses in the country.
Duke cruising through ACC towards No. 1 seed
Save for a brief blip in a loss to a very good Clemson team, Duke has had no trouble at all stomping its way through the ACC. Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils have crushed most of their competition, including a 36-point win over Stanford on Saturday. All but two of Duke’s 14 ACC wins have come by double digits, which has left it as the team to beat in the conference.
There aren’t many chances for quality wins in a very weak ACC this season, but Duke is still well on its way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it can keep this pace up. Non-conference wins over Arizona and Auburn are buoying this Duke resume, and the committee will see them as a cut above a lot of others as those wins continue to look better and better.
Interestingly, Duke has one more chance to get a big win this season and it is not coming in ACC play. The Blue Devils will take on Illinois on the road next Saturday night in a huge game that will give one team a ton of momentum for the rest of the season. If they can come out on top in that game, they will be well on their way to a top seed in the bracket.
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