Flagg, a rookie, scores 27 points, but the Bears fall down 78-57.
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s best defensive team played the league’s worst shooting team on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the outcome was predictable.
Cal, rated last in the ACC in field-goal accuracy, shot only 35%, and No. 3 Duke easily won 78-57.
Jeremiah Wilkinson, a freshman guard, led Cal with 21 points, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. Wilkinson, who has averaged 20.0 points in his past seven games, scored 15 of his 21 in the second half, hitting 6 of 8 attempts.
“Jeremiah Wilkinson has been absolutely outstanding,” California coach Mark Madsen said. “Now that he’s begun, he’s becoming more confident in a variety of positions. He played point guard a lot tonight, and he did a terrific job of getting us into attack and building a rhythm for himself and his teammates.”
Cooper Flagg, Duke’s standout freshman, scored 27 points, including a steal and a breakaway reverse slam, as the ACC-leading Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1) became undefeated in 14 home games. It was Flagg’s 13th 20-point game of the season, and he is largely considered the top pick in this summer’s NBA draft.
“They have the best player in the draft available. We threw several looks at him, trying to be strong with him, and he chose 27,” Madsen said. “We have to find a way to slow a man like that down. I’ll tell you something: He had to strive for every point he got.
Flagg finished 8 for 14, hitting two of four three-pointers and converting all nine free throws. He had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Cal (12-13, 5-9) shot 29 percent in the first half, trailed by 13 points at the break, and just couldn’t produce enough offense to compete with an ACC team that leads the conference in scoring defense and field-goal defense.
Following their loss against Clemson, the Blue Devils led by up to 26 points. Tyrese Proctor had 18 points for the hosts.
Madsen said the Bears had opportunities. “What I told the guys in the locker room (is) we’re a few defensive sequences away, got to make a couple of the open 3’s and we’re going to be able to beat a team like Duke on their home floor,” said the junior forward.
Perhaps, but the Bears did not produce enough offense to stay up with Duke. Andrej Stojakovic scored ten points, but just two in the second half. Rytis Petraitis led the Bears in scoring with eleven points.
Cal, which needs one more win to equal its season total from last year, will play Georgia Tech (12-13, 6-8) on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. Georgia Tech beat Stanford 60–52 on Wednesday.
The Bears, who played at Cameron Indoor for the first time, hadn’t beaten Duke since Jason Kidd led an 82-77 upset of the two-time reigning national champions in the 1993 NCAA tournament. Duke leads the overall series 3-2.
Flagg scored 13 points in the opening half, and the Blue Devils led 38-23 at the break.
Cal hit just 8 of 28 shots in the half, including 3 of 12 from beyond the arc. Duke shot 43 percent (13 for 30) and went 6 for 8 from deep, with five different players scoring threes in the opening session.
Stojakovic led the Bears with eight points at halftime, but he failed to hit three-pointers. After missing two attempts, he is now 1 for 18 from deep over the previous six games.
Leave a Reply