Andy Enfield details how SMU is preparing for Duke star Cooper Flagg
SMU Basketball welcomes its biggest home opponent in a while to Moody Coliseum on Saturday when No. 4 Duke comes to the Hilltop. With the Blue Devils is a projected No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg.
The do-it-all forward has been the engine for the Blue Devils this season, leading the team in points (16.9), rebounds (8.2), assists (3.7) and blocks (1.2) per game. He also averages a team-high 30.7 minutes per game and is second on the team in steals (1.7 per game).
SMU head coach Andy Enfield has seen his fair share of lottery pick talents on opposing teams, but Duke isn’t a Top 5 team just because of Flagg. They’ve got depth with double-digit scorers like Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor plus other standouts.
“He does a lot of things. He leads their team in about six or seven categories. We understand, but Duke is not Cooper Flagg, it’s Duke as a team,” Enfield said when asked about Cooper Flagg. “They have nine or 10 other really good players. We’ll try to come up with a game plan to try and make it as hard as they can to score the ball on us.
“They’re very balanced. Cooper’s at 16 and the other guys are at 11, 10, nine points per game, so they’re balanced like we are. So you just can’t focus on one guy, you have to guard their whole team.”
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Duke is the only team in the country with a Top 10 offense and Top 10 defense, per KenPom. The Mustangs are no slouch offensively though. SMU is averaging 87.2 points while shooting 49.6% overall and 39.1% on three-point shots, all good for No. 1 in the ACC. SMU’s looking to keep its hot offense rolling.
“We score the ball at a pretty high level right now and when we have 19 assists, 14 in the second half (Sunday), we’re pretty good,” Enfield said. “If we’re selfish and we don’t hit the open man — we had five assists in the first half (Sunday vs. Longwood) — that was not good enough. Our guys have shown the ability to come out in the second half and learn from their mistakes in the first half.”
Cooper Flagg was the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, a huge land for Jon Scheyer. He’s been every bit as advertised for the Blue Devils so far. SMU’s hoping to change that.
“This is what we signed up for,” Enfield said. “Have a battle for first place in the ACC. It’s a young season, we have a long way to go, but it’s obviously a big game for everybody.”
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