Cooper Flagg, No. 4 Duke easily take down SMU

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg pumped in 24 points as the No. 4 Blue Devils defeated SMU 89-62 without their coach on Saturday afternoon at Dallas.

Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor both posted 14 points for Duke (12-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Flagg, who didn't score after making a 3-pointer with 15:55 left, also had 11 rebounds and three assists. Khaman Maluach added eight points and eight rebounds and Sion James provided eight assists.

Boopie Miller, who played against Duke twice last year when he was with Wake Forest, led SMU (11-3, 2-1) with 21 points. Matt Cross had 11 points and Samet Yigitoglu added 10 points, but the Mustangs shot 34.3 percent from the field.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer missed the game because of illness. Associate head coach Chris Carrawell, who like Scheyer is a former Duke player, was in charge. Duke next plays Tuesday night at home vs. Pitt.

Both teams entered the game on seven-game winning streaks. Duke improved to 4-0 in road games, including three wins in ACC play.

Duke outscored the Mustangs 33-15 from beyond the 3-point arc. Proctor drained four 3s and Knueppel made three 3s as part of the Blue Devils' 53.2-percent overall shooting from the field.

Flagg's 3-pointer stretched the Blue Devils' edge to 54-37 with about 16 minutes remaining, giving him nine points in the second half.

Duke's 41-32 halftime lead came with 15 points from Flagg, who drained all six first-half attempts from the free-throw line. The Blue Devils committed one turnover in the half.

SMU was hurt by 36.4-percent shooting from the field in the opening half, making just two of 10 launches from 3-point range. The Mustangs grabbed 13 offensive boards in the first half.

Flagg scored 13 of Duke's first 25 points. The Blue Devils, who led 15-5 early, had another double-digit lead at 30-20 on Maluach's basket.

--Field Level Media