The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils (13-2, 5-0 ACC) defeated the Pitt Panthers (12-3, 3-1 ACC), 76-47, in a dominant performance at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Although the Blue Devils can score with the best of them, it was their stifling defense that was most impressive – holding the Panthers to a season low 47 points on 31% shooting from the floor.
“They’ve been averaging 84 points a game,” head coach Jon Scheyer said after the game. “For us, we ended up switching a lot, trying to force a one-on-one although they have really good one-on-one players. The story tonight was our collective defense. To hold them to 47 points is terrific.”
“I think just sticking to the game plan and forcing [Pittsburgh] into a lot of tough, contested shots,” freshman Cooper Flagg said in the locker room after the win. “They’re a team that likes to go one-on-one a lot. They’ve got three really good guards that can get a shot off on anybody, so it was just about stressing the game
plan, being in the gaps, helping each other out and having five guys guard the ball.”
Flagg finished the contest with a game-high 19 points, that included a jaw-dropping second-half dunk that sent Cameron Indoor into a frenzie.
“It was crazy. That’s the best in-game dunk I’ve ever seen, but it might be one of the best dunks period, I’ve seen,” guard Tyrese Proctor told us.
Five Blue Devils, including Flagg, scored in double figures – Kon Knueppel (17), Khaman Maluach (11), Tyrese Proctor (13) and Sion James (10).
Duke continues to trend upward, as they head into the crux of ACC play. They have won nine straight games (the third-longest active winning streak in the nation) and have won their first five conference games by double-digits, the first time a Duke team has accomplished the feat since the 1998-99 season.
No. 4 Duke remains at home for its next ACC game, welcoming Notre Dame to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11. The Blue Devils (13-2, 5-0 ACC) and Fighting Irish (7-7, 1-2 ACC) tipoff at 12 p.m., on ESPN.