How Cooper Flagg played in Duke's win over Virginia

02/17/2025 11:53 PM

The Duke basketball team continued its impressive season on Monday night as they cruised to an easy win against the Virginia basketball team. Star freshman Cooper Flagg once again put up an impressive performance as he was a big reason why the Blue Devils made easy work of the Cavaliers. It didn’t take long for Flagg and Duke to pull away in this one as they quickly got out to a double digit lead, and they never looked back. The Blue Devils earned an impressive 80-62 win on the road.

Virginia was able to go back-and-forth with Duke for about five minutes before the Blue Devils started to pull away. The Cavaliers led 12-11 about five minutes in, and then Duke went on a 15-2 run to create some separation. Virginia did a good job not letting things completely spiral out of control in the first half, but they did go into the locker room down by 14 points.

Duke started the second half on an 8-0 run, and that put them up by 22 points. The Blue Devils continued to pour it on in the second half as they stretched the lead to as many as 27 at one point, and then they took their foot off the gas a bit. Virginia was able to make things look more respectable as they got the deficit down to 18 before the final whistle.

Cooper Flagg is one of the best players in all of college basketball, and he had another good game against Virginia on Monday night. He finished with 17 points on 8-16 shooting, but he was especially impressive on the glass for the Blue Devils as he finished with 14 rebounds.

Flagg is a matchup nightmare for every team that Duke plays as there just aren’t very many players of his size that have the athleticism to keep up with him. Flagg requires so much attention from opposing defenses, and that allows all of the other NBA talent that the Blue Devils have to flourish. They are a well-oiled machine, and Flagg is a big reason why.

With the win, Cooper Flagg and Duke improved to 23-3 overall on the year, and they are now 15-1 in ACC play. Next up for the Blue Devils is a rare February non-conference game as they will meet Illinois in New York City on Saturday night. Duke and Illinois will tip at 8:00 CT from Madison Square Garden, and the game will be airing on Fox.

Cooper Flagg mock draft

We don’t know who will end up with the first pick in the NBA Draft as the lottery hasn’t happened yet, but right now, ESPN projects Cooper Flagg going to the Washington Wizards with the first overall pick.

“While other prospects have seen their production decline in conference play, Flagg has emerged as the best player in college basketball, and he has a chance to cement his legacy at Duke with a Final Four run,” Jonathan Givony said in his scouting report for Flagg. “He’s the country’s most competitive and versatile defender, and he has a stranglehold on the No. 1 pick conversation with the myriad ways he affects winning despite turning 18 in December. How he handles the spotlight moving forward will tell us more about whether he projects as ‘merely’ an All-Star, or if, as some scouts suggest, he can develop into one of the NBA’s most impactful players.”

Flagg would give the Wizards some much-needed help, and that will be the case no matter where he ends up. Any lottery team could use a Cooper Flagg.

“The Wizards were active during last week’s trade deadline, using their flexibility to take on salary and add to their growing stockpile of draft picks,” Jeremy Woo said. “Those decisions won’t change their calculus picking near the top of the lottery. Flagg would be a tone-setting player around whom Washington could center its rebuild, and his growth in the shot-creation department has to be interesting to the Wizards, given the need for a playmaker to lead the team (on that note, Dylan Harper will surely be attractive to them as well). A long-term defensive front line of Flagg, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly could give opposing teams real problems.”

It’s not a guarantee that Cooper Flagg goes to the draft, but if he does, he will more than likely be the first overall pick.

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