Best freshman in college basketball? How about the best player in college basketball, period?
That’s how we should be viewing Duke forward Cooper Flagg after Saturday, when he scored a career-high 42 points to propel the Blue Devils past Notre Dame 86-78. Flagg’s 42 points not only set Duke’s new single-game freshman scoring record — surpassing Zion Williamson’s 35 against Syracuse in 2019 — but also set the ACC single-game freshman scoring record.
Additionally, it’s the first 40-point game by a Blue Devil since JJ Redick in 2006.
Perhaps the only surprise about Flagg’s breakout performance? That it took this long into his first college season (and only season — he’s widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft this summer) for him to reach the scoring heights he has at every previous level of hoops. Prior to Saturday, Flagg’s career-high was 26 points against Kentucky in Duke’s Champions Classic loss in November. On Saturday, Duke needed every one of those points, after Notre Dame used a late 10-0 run to cut a one-time 18-point deficit to just four with 32 seconds left.
Cooper Flagg vs. Notre Dame:
🔵 42 PTS (most by a freshman in men’s ACC history)🔵 11-14 FG🔵 6 REB
🔵 7 AST pic.twitter.com/cLd1hfyYt7
— ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2025
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Tuesday after Duke’s 76-47 win over Pittsburgh that “when we step on the floor, we have the best player in the country.”
After Saturday, it’s much more difficult to argue with that claim.
Flagg’s efficiency was as noteworthy as his raw counting stats, which also featured seven assists and six rebounds. The 6-foot-9 Maine native made 11 of his 14 shots — including four of his six 3-point tries — as well as 16 of his 17 free-throw attempts.
Cooper Flagg had 42 points, 6 boards and 7 assists vs. Notre Dame.
He’s the 1st Duke player with 35+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a single game since Jon Scheyer on 12/15/09 (vs. Gardner-Webb).
— #DukeMBBStats (@DukeMBBStats) January 11, 2025
Entering Saturday, Flagg led Duke in every major statistical category: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He’s second in KenPom’s National Player of the Year rankings, trailing only Auburn center Johni Broome — although after Saturday’s breakout, that may change.
“He doesn’t hunt numbers,” Scheyer said of Flagg on Tuesday. “He just puts up numbers because the game comes to him.”
Required reading
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
