How Maliq Brown, Caleb Foster boosted Duke basketball in comeback win at UNC for ACC title
CHAPEL HILL — Duke basketball is more than Cooper Flagg.
The second-ranked Blue Devils proved that again in an 82-69 win against rival UNC on Saturday at the Smith Center, winning an outright ACC regular-season championship for the first time under head coach Jon Scheyer.
Despite foul trouble, Flagg had his standard, stellar showing with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks in 29 minutes. Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel was the leading scorer in both games against the Tar Heels (20-12, 13-7 ACC), scoring 17 points on 10 shots in the regular-season finale.
Veteran guards Sion James (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) and Tyrese Proctor (16 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers for Duke (28-3, 19-1), which trailed by seven points early in the second half before reeling off a 19-5 run to take control.
“We had to change our faces a little bit. I thought we got knocked back a little bit and we had some scared looks,” Knueppel said. “I was just telling the guys, ‘We’re good, we’re fine. There’s so much time left.’ I thought that our look was better in the second half and that helped us.”
Maliq Brown and Caleb Foster helped the Blue Devils get over the hump in the second half against the Heels, providing a boost off the bench during some tense moments to quiet a rowdy crowd of 21,750 fans. Brown had a plus-minus rating of plus-20, the highest in Saturday’s game. Foster was plus-13.
“I thought we weathered the storm. A lot of guys made winning plays,” Scheyer said. “But for me, each game this year somebody else has stepped up. We have a team where all 11 scholarship players that we recruited to play have won us games in different moments.”
Maliq Brown 3-pointers help Duke basketball win vs UNC
After missing four games with a shoulder injury, Maliq Brown returned to play nearly 16 minutes at UNC. Brown had eight points, three rebounds and three assists.
“I think it was huge. Maliq stepped up (against UNC) in a big way. I think I saw a look out of Maliq (against UNC) that I haven’t really seen the whole year,” Flagg said.
“We all know what he has.”
All eight of Brown’s points came in the second half, including two 3-pointers in the final nine minutes. He had two 3-pointers in his previous 21 games with the Blue Devils.
“The one thing about being off this amount of time, he has shot a ton,” Scheyer said of Brown.
“He’s shooting more than he ever has. Now, he’s kicking (director of player development) Justin Robinson’s (butt) in shooting games. … I’m proud of the work he’s done with J-Rob to have the confidence to shoot those shots.”
Knueppel, who described Brown as “awesome,” noted the Syracuse transfer’s consistency as a defender. He also highlighted Brown’s “two big-time shots” against UNC, including a 3-pointer that pushed Duke’s lead to double digits for good with 3:34 left.