Flagg leads the way as No. 9 Duke holds off Broome and No. 2 Auburn for an 84-78 win
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 9 Duke push past No. 2 Auburn 84-78 on Wednesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
The preseason Associated Press All-American had 16 points after halftime to help the Blue Devils (6-2) hold off the Tigers and fellow All-American Johni Broome.
Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 15 seconds left for the Tigers (7-1), who missed seven straight shots in the final 4 1/2 minutes. That helped Duke keep tenuous control in front of its rowdy home crowd.
Still, the SEC won the intraconference series in a 14-2 romp, with Duke and Clemson registering the ACC's lone wins.
Auburn: The Tigers pushed Kansas for the No. 1 ranking after winning the Maui Invitational. But after Kansas lost at Creighton on Wednesday night, the Tigers followed shortly afterward in a March-worthy matchup.
Duke: The Blue Devils dug out from an early 11-point hole and repeatedly came up with timely responses to stay in control, leading by a dozen after halftime.
Duke's lead was just two when Flagg drove for a contested shot that was blocked, with the ball knocked loose out beyond the 3-point arc as the shot clock wound down. But teammate Tyrese Proctor collected the ball for a long straightaway 3-pointer to beat the horn for a 73-68 lead with 4:30 left.
Freshman guard Isaiah Evans didn't play in Duke's matchups against Kentucky, Arizona or Kansas and had just 29 points all season. But he came out of nowhere to score 18 points and shoot 6 of 8 on 3s before halftime for a game-changing spark off the bench, though he didn't score after the break.
The Tigers host Richmond on Sunday. That same day, the Blue Devils open Atlantic Coast Conference play at Louisville.
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| Time | Team | Play | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:00 |  | Â | Johni Broome vs. Khaman Maluach (Tigers gains possession) | Â |
| 19:35 |  | Â | Johni Broome misses two point layup | Â |
| 19:33 | | Â | Dylan Cardwell offensive rebound | Â |
| 19:27 | | +3 | Chad Baker-Mazara makes three point jump shot (Dylan Cardwell assists) | 3-0 |
| 19:07 | | Â | Sion James misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 19:05 | | Â | Tigers defensive rebound | Â |
| 18:55 | | +2 | Miles Kelly makes two point dunk (Johni Broome assists) | 5-0 |
| 18:36 | | +2 | Cooper Flagg makes two point layup | 5-2 |
| 18:36 | | Â | Dylan Cardwell shooting foul (Cooper Flagg draws the foul) | Â |
| 18:36 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | Â |
| 18:36 | | Â | Johni Broome defensive rebound | Â |
| 18:18 | | +2 | Johni Broome makes two point layup | 7-2 |
| 17:49 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 17:47 | | Â | Dylan Cardwell defensive rebound | Â |
| 17:20 | | +3 | Miles Kelly makes three point jump shot (Denver Jones assists) | 10-2 |
| 16:56 | | Â | Dylan Cardwell blocks Cooper Flagg's two point layup | Â |
| 16:54 | | Â | Cooper Flagg offensive rebound | Â |
| 16:44 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor misses two point layup | Â |
| 16:42 | | Â | Johni Broome defensive rebound | Â |
| 16:21 | | +3 | Miles Kelly makes three point jump shot (Denver Jones assists) | 13-2 |
| 16:18 | | Â | Blue Devils 30 second timeout | Â |
| 16:18 | | Â | TV timeout | Â |
| 16:05 | | Â | Chaney Johnson shooting foul (Caleb Foster draws the foul) | Â |
| 16:05 | | +1 | Caleb Foster makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 13-3 |
| 16:05 | | Â | Caleb Foster misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | Â |
| 16:05 | | Â | Cooper Flagg offensive rebound | Â |
| 15:44 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 15:42 | | Â | Tigers defensive rebound | Â |
| 15:25 | | Â | Johni Broome misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 15:23 | | Â | Kon Knueppel defensive rebound | Â |
| 15:02 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 15:00 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor offensive rebound | Â |
| 14:52 | | +2 | Kon Knueppel makes two point layup | 13-5 |
| 14:31 | | Â | Chaney Johnson misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 14:29 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor defensive rebound | Â |
| 14:22 | | +2 | Cooper Flagg makes two point jump shot | 13-7 |
| 13:56 | | Â | Chad Baker-Mazara misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 13:54 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 13:48 | | Â | Chaney Johnson personal foul | Â |
| 13:34 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford shooting foul (Caleb Foster draws the foul) | Â |
| 13:34 | | +1 | Caleb Foster makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 13-8 |
| 13:34 | | Â | Caleb Foster misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | Â |
| 13:34 | | Â | Denver Jones defensive rebound | Â |
| 13:10 | | +2 | Chad Baker-Mazara makes two point jump shot (Tahaad Pettiford assists) | 15-8 |
| 12:53 | | +2 | Caleb Foster makes two point layup | 15-10 |
| 12:33 | | Â | Chris Moore misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 12:31 | | Â | Maliq Brown defensive rebound | Â |
| 12:19 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 12:17 | | Â | Johni Broome defensive rebound | Â |
| 12:14 | | Â | Mason Gillis personal foul | Â |
| 11:59 | | Â | Johni Broome misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 11:57 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 11:37 | | Â | Maliq Brown turnover (bad pass) (Tahaad Pettiford steals) | Â |
| 11:37 | | Â | TV timeout | Â |
| 11:24 | | Â | Maliq Brown shooting foul (Johni Broome draws the foul) | Â |
| 11:24 | | +1 | Johni Broome makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 16-10 |
| 11:24 | | Â | Johni Broome misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | Â |
| 11:24 | | Â | Mason Gillis defensive rebound | Â |
| 11:04 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Cooper Flagg assists) | 16-13 |
| 10:34 | | Â | JP Pegues misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:32 | | Â | JP Pegues offensive rebound | Â |
| 10:24 | | Â | Johni Broome misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:22 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 10:14 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:12 | | Â | JP Pegues defensive rebound | Â |
| 10:05 | | Â | Chris Moore misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 10:03 | | Â | Khaman Maluach defensive rebound | Â |
| 10:02 | | Â | Johni Broome personal foul | Â |
| 9:47 | | +2 | Caleb Foster makes two point layup | 16-15 |
| 9:30 | | +2 | Chad Baker-Mazara makes two point jump shot | 18-15 |
| 9:30 | | Â | Kon Knueppel shooting foul (Chad Baker-Mazara draws the foul) | Â |
| 9:30 | | +1 | Chad Baker-Mazara makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 19-15 |
| 9:14 | | Â | Caleb Foster misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 9:12 | | Â | Miles Kelly defensive rebound | Â |
| 8:52 | | +3 | Miles Kelly makes three point jump shot (JP Pegues assists) | 22-15 |
| 8:30 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Kon Knueppel assists) | 22-18 |
| 7:56 | | Â | JP Pegues misses two point layup | Â |
| 7:54 | | Â | Isaiah Evans defensive rebound | Â |
| 7:43 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Kon Knueppel assists) | 22-21 |
| 7:39 | | Â | Tigers 30 second timeout | Â |
| 7:39 | | Â | TV timeout | Â |
| 7:26 | | +2 | Johni Broome makes two point layup | 24-21 |
| 7:07 | | Â | Isaiah Evans misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 7:05 | | Â | Sion James offensive rebound | Â |
| 7:03 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford shooting foul (Sion James draws the foul) | Â |
| 7:03 | | +1 | Sion James makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 24-22 |
| 7:03 | | +1 | Sion James makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 24-23 |
| 6:36 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 6:34 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 6:26 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Cooper Flagg assists) | 24-26 |
| 6:04 | | Â | Johni Broome misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 6:04 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 6:04 | | Â | Dylan Cardwell personal foul (Cooper Flagg draws the foul) | Â |
| 6:04 | | +1 | Cooper Flagg makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 24-27 |
| 6:04 | | +1 | Cooper Flagg makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 24-28 |
| 5:52 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford misses two point layup | Â |
| 5:50 | | Â | Sion James defensive rebound | Â |
| 5:46 | | Â | Isaiah Evans misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 5:44 | | Â | Maliq Brown offensive rebound | Â |
| 5:37 | | Â | Maliq Brown misses two point layup | Â |
| 5:35 | | Â | Maliq Brown offensive rebound | Â |
| 5:30 | | +2 | Maliq Brown makes two point tip layup | 24-30 |
| 5:03 | | +3 | Tahaad Pettiford makes three point jump shot | 27-30 |
| 4:42 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 4:42 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor offensive rebound | Â |
| 4:42 | | Â | Johni Broome shooting foul (Tyrese Proctor draws the foul) | Â |
| 4:42 | | +1 | Tyrese Proctor makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 27-31 |
| 4:42 | | +1 | Tyrese Proctor makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 27-32 |
| 4:29 | | +3 | Tahaad Pettiford makes three point jump shot (Johni Broome assists) | 30-32 |
| 4:03 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 4:01 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford defensive rebound | Â |
| 3:57 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford misses two point layup | Â |
| 3:55 | | Â | Chaney Johnson offensive rebound | Â |
| 3:55 | | +2 | Chaney Johnson makes two point tip layup | 32-32 |
| 3:55 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor shooting foul (Chaney Johnson draws the foul) | Â |
| 3:55 | | Â | TV timeout | Â |
| 3:55 | | +1 | Chaney Johnson makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 33-32 |
| 3:40 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 3:38 | | Â | Miles Kelly defensive rebound | Â |
| 3:14 | | Â | Tahaad Pettiford turnover (lost ball) (Tyrese Proctor steals) | Â |
| 3:08 | | +2 | Tyrese Proctor makes two point dunk | 33-34 |
| 2:50 | | Â | Tyrese Proctor personal foul | Â |
| 2:43 | | Â | Johni Broome misses two point layup | Â |
| 2:41 | | Â | Maliq Brown defensive rebound | Â |
| 2:35 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Caleb Foster assists) | 33-37 |
| 2:16 | | +3 | Chad Baker-Mazara makes three point jump shot | 36-37 |
| 1:49 | | Â | Isaiah Evans turnover (lost ball) (Miles Kelly steals) | Â |
| 1:43 | | Â | Chad Baker-Mazara turnover (bad pass) (Cooper Flagg steals) | Â |
| 1:37 | | +3 | Caleb Foster makes three point jump shot (Cooper Flagg assists) | 36-40 |
| 1:16 | | Â | Cooper Flagg blocks Miles Kelly's two point layup | Â |
| 1:14 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 1:06 | | Â | Caleb Foster misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 1:04 | | Â | Kon Knueppel offensive rebound | Â |
| 0:59 | | +3 | Isaiah Evans makes three point jump shot (Maliq Brown assists) | 36-43 |
| 0:38 | | Â | Miles Kelly misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 0:36 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:11 | | Â | Cooper Flagg misses two point jump shot | Â |
| 0:09 | | Â | Chris Moore defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:03 | | Â | Johni Broome misses three point jump shot | Â |
| 0:01 | | Â | Cooper Flagg defensive rebound | Â |
| 0:00 | | Â | End of period | Â |