DURHAM, NC – The University of Maine knew all about native son Cooper Flagg coming into Monday night’s opener. But it was another Duke freshman who stole the show for the Blue Devils.
Duke’s Kon Knueppel played spoiler in the Black Bears’ season opener, scoring a team-high 22 points in the 96-62 Blue Devils’ victory.
Maine (0-1) was led by Quion Burns who scored 15 points, but No. 7 Duke (1-0) outscored the Black Bears 52-29 in the second half to pull away.
Flagg, the Newport native who grew up 35 minutes from Maine’s campus, shook off a slow start to finish with 18 points in his official college basketball debut, on 6-for-15 shooting. Flagg also added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Flagg scored 22 and 9 points in exhibitions against Division II Lincoln (Pa.) and Arizona State, respectively. He scored his 9th and 10th point with a pair of free throws in the second half against UMaine to give him his first official double-digit game.
UMaine shot 25% from the floor in the second half, not doing themselves any favor after hanging within striking distance in the first half.
The Black Bears trailed by single digits late in the first half, but never got closer than 10 after intermission. Nine of the 11 players who saw action for Maine scored at least two points, but not even that group effort could overcome the Duke offensive attack led by Knueppel and Flagg. The Blue Devils finished with five players in double digits.
Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and No. 1 rated player in college basketball according to ESPN, had six points in the first half.
His strong second half performance was punctuated by a two-handed slam on a fast break, followed by a pair of free throws.
That ballooned the score to a 26-point Duke lead with 5:49 remaining.
Maine falls to 0-2 in all-time meetings versus the Blue Devils, who won the previous matchup 94-55 in December of 2016.
