NEW YORK — The second so many of those followers got here to see — those proudly carrying blue and white, anyway — unfolded barely a minute into the second half of an already lopsided affair. A turnover by Illinois level guard Kasparas Jakucionis, the extremely gifted B-side of Saturday’s primetime showcase, gave technique to Duke star Cooper Flagg loping throughout midcourt with nary a physique between him and the ring. Flagg gathered the ball in his mitt-sized proper hand after which vaulted into the air for a vicious slam that set Madison Sq. Backyard ablaze, extending the Blue Devils’ result in 19 earlier than scores of spectators had even returned from their halftime concession runs.
Cooper Flagg throws down VICIOUS DUNK after steal as Duke leads Illinois, 56-37
That bucket, which Flagg bolstered with one other hovering, two-handed jam moments later, adopted by a muscled layup by way of contact that gave him the prospect to flex each biceps in entrance of Duke’s thickest part of supporters, was precisely what everybody across the program envisioned when this sport was introduced six months in the past: essentially the most hyped highschool prospect in years making an enduring reminiscence in The World’s Most Well-known Enviornment, dunking his manner by way of a record-breaking season as he leads an ultra-talented blue blood towards what might be this system’s first nationwide championship since 2015 — all whereas cementing his case because the presumptive No. 1 decide within the NBA Draft.
What was billed by each coaches as a matchup befitting an NCAA Event sport shortly devolved right into a one-sided hiding that exposed vital expertise discrepancies between the 2 groups, with Flagg and his blue-chip-laden supporting solid rolling to a 110-67 victory that was hardly aggressive past the opening jiffy. Flagg, who completed with 16 factors, seven rebounds and 5 assists, was one in all seven gamers to succeed in double-figure scoring within the Blue Devils’ fourth consecutive blowout win, convention affiliation be damned. It was Duke’s twentieth victory within the final 21 video games and a obvious, nationally televised reminder that Flagg is much from the one elite prospect on head coach Jon Scheyer’s extremely deep roster, which could be undervalued at No. 3 within the nation and 24-3 total.
“Whew, yeah,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood stated to start his postgame information convention. “Duke’s good.”
The veracity of that assertion, which appeared clear from the second Scheyer inked the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, together with a number of high-profile transfers, was a part of the impetus for why this occasion occurred in any respect. The sport itself, dubbed the “SentinelOne Basic,” was a comparatively late addition to this yr’s faculty basketball calendar, with the formal announcement approaching Aug. 14, 2024, after the Blue Devils had sought a keen dance companion for an more and more uncommon, late-February, non-conference matchup between high-level packages. By that time — rather less than three months earlier than the common season started and close to the conclusion of school basketball’s summer time exercises — each coaches had been keenly conscious of the NBA-caliber expertise that graced their respective rosters, together with a half-dozen potential first-round picks subsequent summer time alone.
For Scheyer, that meant an opportunity to showcase the nation’s No. 1 total recruit in Flagg, a local of Newport, Maine, which is roughly seven hours from New York Metropolis, and the unbelievable assortment of expertise round him. Along with Flagg, who will nearly actually be the primary participant chosen on this yr’s draft, the Blue Devils additionally boast two extra possible lottery picks in freshmen Kon Knueppel (15 factors, 4 rebounds) and Khaman Maluach (13 factors, seven rebounds), to not point out a pair of possible second-round picks in Tulane switch Sion James (11 factors, six assists) and junior Tyrese Proctor (12 factors, 4 assists). There is a sturdy likelihood Duke will produce three top-10 picks in the identical draft for the primary time since 2019 — when Zion Williamson went No. 1 total, R.J. Barrett went No. 3 total and Cam Reddish went No. 10 total — and simply the second time in program historical past.
For Underwood, who instructed reporters earlier this week that he’d prefer to play one non-conference sport per season at Madison Sq. Backyard, scheduling this sport in opposition to this group meant creating an unbelievable stage for Jakucionis, the true freshman from Lithuania by the use of FC Barcelona in Spain. Scouts and NBA executives had been conversant in Jakucionis for a number of years, each as a member of Barcelona’s second group — although he did make some cameos with the membership’s high squad — and as a number one determine for the Lithuanian youth nationwide groups. He averaged 13 factors, 4.4 rebounds and three.9 assists per sport within the FIBA U18 European Championship in 2023 after which was named to the all-tournament group for the Adidas Subsequent Era Event in spring 2024 when he exploded for 17.9 factors, 9 assists, 6.3 rebounds and a couple of.9 steals. Now, throughout his first season on this nation, Jakucionis has already set the Illinois freshman document with 10 video games of 20-plus factors and can be a part of Flagg within the lottery later this yr, maybe creeping into the highest 5 picks. His Illinois teammate, freshman ahead Will Riley, can be considered as a attainable first-round decide.
“Once you’re speaking a couple of big-time, nationally televised sport in Madison Sq. Backyard,” an NBA govt instructed FOX Sports activities earlier within the week, “you at all times wish to see how they compete in simply the identical manner when it turns into do-or-die in convention tournaments or the NCAA Event. As an instance one in all them has a poor sport. You do not wish to over-emphasize that, however it does go into the dialogue. Gamers get reputations as with the ability to step onto the large stage and play nicely or not. Will one in all them be overly helped or overly damage? In all probability not. But it surely does enable you to, you recognize, by way of making an attempt to determine their mentality, the place they’re by way of what platform they’re able to play on, and all that stuff.”
The stage was as embellished because it will get in faculty basketball earlier than a sold-out crowd of 19,812 stuffing Madison Sq. Backyard to the ceiling. Followers of each packages flooded into Manhattan for a night on the game’s largest stage, the primary of two high-profile showdowns this venue will host in roughly 16 hours, with No. 10 St. John’s internet hosting UConn on Sunday afternoon (Midday ET, FOX). Their orange and blue regalia matched the lighting on the outside of this well-known constructing, simply borrowed and repurposed from the New York Knicks for the Illini and Blue Devils, respectively. Many within the sold-out crowd had been nonetheless buzzing about catching matinées on Broadway earlier than submitting into the sector lengthy earlier than tipoff on Saturday, injecting the pregame ambiance with a March Insanity really feel. Duke’s followers have lengthy referred to The Backyard as “Cameron North” in reference to Cameron Indoor Stadium, their on-campus area in Durham, North Carolina, and chants of “Cooooooooooooooop” reverberated when Flagg was launched with the beginning lineup. The Blue Devils’ mascot sported a bit of tape throughout its brow with the letters ILL-ANNOYING scrawled in marker, looking forward to the sport to start.
Duke got here out firing from 3-point territory and shortly sunk the Illini on an evening when Underwood’s group missed its first 16 makes an attempt from past the arc and 24 of 26 by sport’s finish. Not even the early foul bother for Flagg, who sat for prolonged parts of the primary half, would forestall the Blue Devils from scoring 54 factors within the opening stanza and leaving their opponent for lifeless. Jakucionis did not try a subject aim within the opening 10 minutes, ceding alternatives to a gaggle of working mates far much less gifted than the gamers surrounding Flagg, and was liable for three of the misfires from lengthy vary. He completed with 14 factors on 4-for-10 taking pictures whereas grabbing seven rebounds and allotting six assists.
However with the second half got here a flurry of eye-popping moments from Flagg, whose preternatural expertise for a participant his dimension — listed at 6-foot 9 and 205 kilos — had been readily obvious on each ends of the ground. He appeared as comfy main the Blue Devils in transition, the place they held a 12-2 edge in fast-break factors, as he was bullying by way of contact for layups or fouls drawn across the rim. He held three fingers within the air after burying an open triple from the suitable wing early within the second half and later flipped a straightforward lob to Maluach for an alley-oop when the Illinois protection collapsed an excessive amount of consideration on the sport’s largest star.
“I simply suppose that the physicality and the best way he is enjoying in opposition to guys which were in faculty — they are often six years older than him, a few of these guys he is enjoying in opposition to — it would not even faze him,” the NBA govt stated. “I believe from that standpoint, his mentality, his physicality, that type of stuff, is what has been as spectacular as something.”
The ultimate ovation for Flagg and his NBA-bound pals got here with 6:35 remaining, by which level Duke’s lead had stretched to 37 and Scheyer might take away his starters for good, saving their legs for a date with Miami in three days’ time. It is one in all solely 4 video games remaining earlier than the Blue Devils embark on the postseason, none of them in opposition to ranked opponents. And with in addition to Scheyer’s group is enjoying proper now — 4 wins by a mean of 29.5 factors per sport for the reason that shock loss at Clemson on Feb. 8 — it could be some time earlier than his group is actually examined down the stretch, if anybody can take a look at this group in any respect.
On the largest stage and beneath the brightest lights, the whole lot went in keeping with plan.
“Only a good, old school butt kicking,” Underwood stated. “Give all of them the credit score.”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and basketball for FOX Sports activities with an emphasis on the Large Ten. Comply with him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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