The Blue Devils did not allow their first loss in over two months to linger with a resounding victory.
The Duke basketball team played the Cal Golden Bears on Wednesday night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, renewing an ancient ACC rivalry – sorry, had to make that joke.
Regardless, the No. 3 Blue Devils were looking to rebound from their Saturday evening setback to Clemson, and head coach Jon Scheyer wanted his squad to return to its strong defensive origins, which they did.
Duke limited Cal (12-13, 5-9 ACC) to 57 points in their 21-point victory, its second lowest scoring output of the season after shooting only 35.1 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from three.
The Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 ACC) jumped off to an early lead, scoring the first seven points of the game after Tyrese Proctor hit a three-pointer on the team’s opening possession, and never looked back.
At halftime, the score was 38-23, and freshman phenom Cooper Flagg grabbed center stage after questions about his health and readiness for games had been raised since the team’s loss.
Flagg finished with 27 points in the win, making 8-of-14 shots, while only two other Blue Devils reached double figures: Proctor (17 points) and Khaman Maluach (10 points).
He had nearly identical scoring stat lines in both games, scoring 13 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting, splitting his two 3-point tries, and converting 4-of-4 free throws. The only difference in the second half was that he scored 14 points, including one more free throw.
Duke’s team field goal percentage was 46.6%.
Following their failed comeback against Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils will remain at home and face another conference adversary from California, the Stanford Cardinal (16-9, 8-6 ACC).
Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
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