Cooper Flagg injury update: Duke star leaves game following second hit to the face

Cooper Flagg is often the center of attention of opposing defenses. And there’s plenty of good reasons behind that. But with that, Flagg often takes a brutal beating in the paint, with defenders accidentally hitting him in the head and mouth. And on Saturday against Florida State, Flagg took not only one but two shots to the face. The first time was a scratch across his nose/mouth. And the second time, Flagg got his eye poked.

After his eye got poked, the Duke star had to leave the floor and head back to the locker room with his team’s medical staff to get his eye examined. He left the game with more than 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

It was a historic victory for the Blue Devils in more ways than one. Duke has now won nine ACC games by 25 points or more, a school record. It’s also the most in ACC history. They’ve also won five straight games by 15 points or more, tying a school record. And they’ve won three straight by 35 points or more, tying yet another school record.

Cooper Flagg and Duke continue to dominate

Even with Flagg injured and missing a good chunk of the first half, it simply didn’t matter.

Duke is rolling along like a well-oiled machine, and it’ll be fascinating to see anyone can stop them in March Madness. The Blue Devils continue to dominate the boards to get second chance points, a theme for them for much of the 2024-2025 season.

Flagg finished with 16 points on five of nine shooting from the field. He also had six rebounds and four assists. The freshman phenom only played 20 minutes on Saturday, and truth be told, he probably could have played even less if Jon Scheyer wanted him to. Flagg still found a way to be highly productive in the blowout victory.

Duke had a season-high 21 offensive rebounds against the Seminoles, scoring 17 second-chance points. Keep in mind they did that against Florida State, one of the tallest teams in all of college basketball. It speaks to the level of their dominance.

Tyrese Proctor didn’t play at all for Duke on Saturday. Once again, it didn’t matter at all. Freshman Isaiah Evans had 19 points and Khaman Maluach tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to carry the team that is humming along like a well-oiled Maserati.

Duke now sits at 26-3 overall and 17-1 in ACC play, with their lone ACC loss coming on the road to the Clemson Tigers.