The rookie Flagg scores 27 points, but the Bears can’t keep up in a 78-57 loss.
The Atlantic Coast Conference’s greatest defensive squad faced the league’s worst shooting team on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the result was inevitable.
Cal, ranked last in the ACC in field-goal accuracy, shot only 35%, and No. 3 Duke cruised to a 78-57 win.
Jeremiah Wilkinson, a freshman guard, led Cal with 21 points, going 4 for 7 from three-point range. Wilkinson, who has averaged 20.0 points over the last seven games, scored 15 of his 21 in the second half, making 6 of 8 shots.
“Jeremiah Wilkinson has been absolutely outstanding,” California coach Mark Madsen stated. “Now that he’s started, he’s gaining confidence every day in a variety of roles. He played point guard a lot tonight, and he did an excellent job of getting us into offense and establishing a rhythm for himself and others.”
Duke has a really good rookie in Cooper Flagg, who scored 27 points, including a steal and a breakaway reverse slam, as the ACC-leading Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1) remained unblemished in 14 home games. It was Flagg’s 13th 20-point game of the season, and he is widely viewed as the top choice in this summer’s NBA draft.
“They have the best player in the draft out there. We threw different looks at him, trying to be forceful with him, and he went for 27,” Madsen explained. “We need to find a means to slow a guy like that down. I’ll tell you something: He had to work for every point he earned.”
Flagg went 8 for 14, made 2 of 4 three-pointers, and converted all nine free throws. He also recorded five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Cal (12-13, 5-9) shot 29 percent in the first half, trailed by 13 points at halftime, and just couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up with an ACC team that leads the conference in scoring defense and field-goal defense.
Following their loss against Clemson, the Blue Devils led by as many as 26 points. Tyrese Proctor scored 18 points for the hosts.
Madsen stated that the Bears had opportunities. “What I told the guys in the locker room (is) we’re a few defensive sequences away, got to make a couple of the open 3’s and we’re going to be able to beat a team like Duke on their home floor,” said the junior forward.
Perhaps, but the Bears didn’t generate enough offense to keep up with Duke. Andrej Stojakovic scored 10 points, but just two in the second half. Rytis Petraitis led the Bears’ scoring with 11 points.
Cal, which needs one more win to match its season total from last year, will face Georgia Tech (12-13, 6-8) on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT. Georgia Tech defeated Stanford 60-52 on Wednesday.
The Bears, who played at Cameron Indoor for the first time, had not defeated Duke since Jason Kidd led an 82-77 upset of the two-time defending national champions in the 1993 NCAA tournament. Duke leads the overall series, 3-2.
Flagg scored 13 points in the first half, and the Blue Devils led 38-23 at halftime.
Cal made only 8 of 28 shots in the half, including 3 of 12 from beyond the arc. Duke shot 43 percent (13 for 30) and was on target for 6 of 8 from deep, with five different players making 3-pointers in the first session.
Stojakovic led the Bears with eight points at halftime, but he struggled to make three-pointers. After missing two shots, he is now 1 for 18 from deep in the last six games.
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