Cooper Flagg addresses late turnovers vs. Kentucky, Jon Scheyer defends star freshman

Cooper Flagg scored Duke’s final seven points Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The freshman was every bit a part of the On3 Industry Ranking No. 1 overall prospect and furture No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick he’s considered to be.

Except, when the Blue Devils needed a bucket in the final seconds — first to lead, and then simply to tie Kentucky — Flagg turned the ball over.

“I mean, Coach has trust in me to go and make a play,” Flagg said after the No. 6 Blue Devils suffered a 77-72 loss to the No. 6 Wildcats.

“It didn’t work out. I’m glad he had that trust in me to put the ball in my hands. And I’m looking for it in that moment. It didn’t work out, but I’m still going to look for it no matter what.”

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer chimed in: “It worked out basically every other time throughout the game to put us in that position.”

Flagg scored a game-high 26 points in the top-20, neutral-site matchup. He shot 9-of-19 from the field, albeit only 1-of-5 from deep, and he piled up a game-high 12 rebounds, not to mention his two assists and two blocks.

That marked Flagg’s second double-double in three tries.

Flagg was a unanimous five-star prospect and the top recruit in the 2024 cycle, despite reclassifying and entering the college ranks a year early. The Newport, Maine, native finished his high school career at Montverde Academy in Florida, where he became the Gatorade National Player of the Year, the Naismith Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American as a senior. In the process, the 6-foot-9, 205-pound wing averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 blocks per game en route to a national title.

“Guys competed, and they played hard,” Scheyer said of Duke’s effort versus Kentucky Tuesday before honing in on the play of Flagg.

“This guy to my right, at 17 years old, what he does and how he competes and how he shows up, I couldn’t be more proud of him. Could not be more proud of him, coaching this guy, man. We got a long season to go.”

Scheyer added: “I feel more optimistic tonight losing than I did even before because you find out in this game the character of your team, the heart that they have, and this team has got a lot of heart.”

Duke turned the ball over only seven times versus Kentucky, but two of those giveaways came from Flagg in the final 12 seconds. First Flagg attacked Wake Forest graduate transfer Andrew Carr in the post. Junior guard, and Oklahoma transfer, Otega Oweh stole the ball away and raced down the floor before getting fouled on his way up to the cup — he hit a pair of free throws to give Kentucky the lead, 74-72.

Then, on Duke’s next possession, Flagg lost his dribble — and then his footing — along the left wing. When trying to regain control of the ball, his hand drifted out of bounds.

“It was definitely wet once I slipped or whatever what happened,” Flagg said. “I kind of lost the ball at first, and then I might have slipped. But whatever happened, that’s not an excuse. Just got to move forward.”

San Diego State grad transfer Lamont Butler made 1-of-2 free throws on the other end, but Oweh secured an offensive rebound after Butler’s miss and then iced the game away at the charity stripe.

Kentucky grabbed its first signature win under new head coach Mark Pope. Duke, meanwhile, got valuable experience for a talented group that featured three starting freshmen Tuesday.

“It was definitely a big experience,” Flagg said. “We started three freshmen, so I know me, Kon [Knueppel] and Khaman [Maluach] learned a lot from tonight. Playing some big minutes, for sure, was definitely a big learning experience for us.

“I mean, it’s just basketball. We came out, we competed. A bunch of plays that we can clean up on and get better at, but at the end of the day it was just basketball.”