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The Duke Blue Devils had already dropped a pair of games to ranked opponents this year, one to Kentucky and one to Kansas, but on Wednesday night, they had the opportunity to secure what could be viewed as arguably the best win of the season thus far… a victory over the 2nd-ranked, Maui Invitational winning Auburn Tigers, who happened to surpass the Blue Devils as the Vegas favorites to win the National Championship earlier this week.
Led by freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, who filled the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in what could be considered the best game of his young career, and Isaiah Evans, who came off the bench and scored all 18 of his points in the 1st half, the Blue Devils prevailed by the final score of 84-78, landing just one of two wins that the ACC secured in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
After the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl spoke about what's possible for this young Blue Devils squad this season.
“This could be a dominant team. I think this team is gonna dominate the ACC,” Pearl told Jeff Goodman after the game.
Bruce Pearl's assessment of the Blue Devils after seeing them up close tracks with what expectations were for Duke heading into the season. In the Associated Press' Preseason ACC Poll, Duke claimed 42 of 54 first place votes, the 9th time in 12 seasons they've entered as the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Duke opens ACC play on Sunday night when they visit the Louisville Cardinals, who have lost two games in a row now after starting the season 5-1 under new head coach Pat Kelsey.
