Duke freshman Cooper Flagg entered the season as perhaps the top professional prospect on the college level.
And Flagg senses he’s getting better on a regular basis.
Flagg will try to put that on display again when No. 4 Duke hosts Pitt on Tuesday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.
“My whole mindset this whole year has just been trying to get better every single day,” Flagg said. “I think that as we’ve gotten more comfortable as a team, we’ve come together more.”
Duke (12-2, 4-0) boosted its winning streak to eight games with an 89-62 triumph at SMU on Saturday.
Pitt (12-2, 3-0), which holds a five-game winning streak, will arrive with a four-game stretch of shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Last January, the Panthers won at Duke for the first time since 1979, so that’s bound to be etched in the minds of the Blue Devils, at least those who were on the team a year ago.
On Saturday vs. SMU, third-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer missed a game for the first time, as he was ill. Associate head coach Chris Carrawell filled in.
“It was different,” Carrawell said. “Lot of crazy stuff going on, but our guys responded and played a great game.”
Flagg has back-to-back games with 24 points. He had 15 in the first half vs. the Mustangs, marking his highest output in any half this season. He didn’t score in the final 15:55 but ended up with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Flagg and guard Tyrese Proctor helped set the tone in the SMU game, and that might be an ideal trend for the Blue Devils.
“Guys are learning how to play with each other,” Carrawell said. “(Proctor and Flagg) are really excellent leaders for our team. We go how they go.”
Flagg said his numbers are a reflection of the players around him. He is averaging team highs of 17.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 blocked shots this season.
“It’s just a team effort that having guys like Tyrese and Kon (Knueppel) on the court helps open everything up for me,” Flagg said.
Pitt’s 80-76 victory last season came against a Duke team that held a No. 7 ranking, so there’s a similar set-up for this matchup.
The game will mark the return of former Duke player and assistant coach Jeff Capel, who’s now in charge on the Pitt bench.
In the Stanford game on Saturday, Panthers guard Ishmael Leggett scored 21 points in his first outing since a one-game absence with an ankle injury. He shot 9-for-13 from the field.
“Early on, I had to work out some of that excitement, and I settled down into the game,” Leggett said. “Once the game slowed down, I started making the right plays.”
The Panthers also have been intent on showcasing their defense. That comes by what might be characterized by better communication, something that might be crucial in what’s bound to be a rowdy atmosphere at Duke.
“It goes both ways with me being more vocal,” Pitt forward Guillermo Diaz Graham said. “It helps the team with our switches and rotations, as well as keeps me locked in on the game.”
–Field Level Media
