Jon Scheyer reacts to Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel joining him in rare category vs. North Carolina

No. 2 Duke cruised past North Carolina 87-70 at home on Saturday, fueled by 22 points and five assists from freshman Kon Knueppel and 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Cooper Flagg.

Their performances were the first time a pair of Duke players scored at least 20 points and five assists against the Tar Heels in the same game since Nolan Smith and current Duke head coach Jon Scheyer did so 15 years prior.

Scheyer reacted with a smile when the stat was brought up during the Blue Devils’ postgame press conference. He praised both Flagg and Knueppel for not shying away from the spotlight on a national stage.

“They absolutely feed off of each other. I think it starts with their competitiveness,” Scheyer said. “They’re just really good competitors. They play both sides of the ball, and they have a high-level feel. You put it together — competitiveness, feel — that’s in the highest level of both, that’s a pretty good starting point.

“And then you add in their skill and their versatility, like for Kon in tonight’s game, he’s posting, he’s shooting, he’s in pick and roll. He’s really doing everything. Obviously, I think everybody knows Cooper is already doing everything, but they have a great thing with them.”

Even as true freshmen, Scheyer revealed that they’re not shy about vocal in the huddle to each other.

“They’ve also checked each other at different points,” Scheyer revealed. “Kon has gotten on Coop to get going in games. Cooper got on Kon a couple of games ago to shoot the ball. That interaction and checking each other as freshmen, I think there’s a lot of maturity with both of them to do that.”

Saturday’s blowout win of North Carolina was just another feather in the cap of the true freshmen, who can’t seem to be slowed down. This performance comes off the heels of a 74-64 win over NC State on Monday which saw Flagg finish the game with 28 points with seven rounds and three assists on 8 of 17 shooting, while Knueppel scored 19 points.

The victory over UNC improves Duke to 19-2 on the season and extends their win streak to 15. It also improved the Blue Devils to 11-0 in conference play, and they continue to sit alone atop the ACC standings.

Duke will look to extend that streak on Wednesday when they travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.