Duke leaning on Cooper Flagg late didn’t work — this time. But Blue Devils want ball in his hands

ATLANTA — Jon Scheyer would do it again.

And later this season, he almost certainly will.

With 26.5 seconds left, Duke and Kentucky tied in another Champions Classic thriller, Scheyer took timeout to scheme up his best play — or really, his best player.

Because, let’s face it: There was only ever one thing that Duke’s coach was going to call for in the clutch moments of Kentucky’s eventual 77-72 win. He knew it. Kentucky knew it. Everyone in State Farm Arena knew it. But with the game on the line, you go to your star — even if he’s 17 years old, playing in only his third college game.

So, Jon, what did you want on that last play?

“The ball in his hands,” Scheyer said before pointing his thumb to his right, where freshman Cooper Flagg was sitting.

It’s that simple. In the crucible of one of the best games of this early college basketball season, Scheyer put the rock in Flagg’s hands and, basically, said go make a bucket. Which, considering Flagg already had a game-high 26 points by then — including Duke’s final seven points, and 12 of its past 14 — ain’t exactly a bad strategy.

So after fellow freshman Kon Knueppel inbounded the ball to Flagg, Duke ran three ghost screens — first with Maliq Brown, then Tyrese Proctor, then Knueppel — and then cleared everyone out of the way.

No ball screens. No passes. No interference. Just let Flagg cook.

It worked the possession before, right? Flagg basically did the same thing when he took an offensive rebound from Brown and, without hesitation, drove into the teeth of Kentucky’s defense. Somehow, he got off a shot over 6-foot-11 forward Andrew Carr, which tap-danced along the back rim before finally falling through the hoop. That tied the score at 72, setting up a do-over scenario for Duke and its teenage phenom.

Only this time, Kentucky — the fifth most-experienced team in the country, per KenPom, which starts four seniors and a junior — learned a thing or two. Rather than following Knueppel out to the wing after his ghost screen, Kentucky wing Otega Oweh hung back a little, wary of Flagg’s incoming drive. Gotcha. This time when Flagg tried to post up Carr, Oweh saw his opening, timing his help defense perfectly before ripping the ball out of Flagg’s grasp. Knueppel fouled Oweh in transition before he got a shot off, but the damage was done; Oweh’s subsequent free throws put Kentucky ahead for good.

After the game, Scheyer acknowledged that he “probably could have put (Flagg) in a better position, to be honest.” Like a ball screen with Proctor, perhaps, to force the defensive switch? Duke’s junior point guard had Jaxson Robinson guarding him, and while Robinson’s an excellent shooter, his defense is about as tough as tissue paper. Earlier in the second half, when Flagg hit Robinson with a drop step in the post, that freed him up for his easiest points all night. Or maybe Scheyer could have gotten Knueppel involved first, and had him feed Flagg off a short roll.

But regardless, Scheyer was going to Flagg.

And he was right to.

“We’re going to be in these moments a lot together, and I trust his instincts,” Scheyer said. “But he’s got to touch it, and trust that good things are going to happen. I wish you could say that every time it’s going to work out, but that’s not reality.”

In that pivotal moment, it didn’t. And it didn’t the next possession, either, when Flagg — with Duke still trailing by only two — lost his dribble in the corner and the ball slowly rolled out of bounds. “I kind of lost the ball first, and then I might have slipped,” Flagg said, “but whatever happened, that’s not an excuse.” The 6-foot-9 wing crumpled to the court as the nearby referee signaled for the turnover, which all but sealed the Blue Devils’ defeat with 5.5 seconds left.

And while those two late turnovers are the moments that will endure, it’s plainly inaccurate to lay the blame for Duke’s defeat at Flagg’s feet. A teenager, in his first nationally televised game, after being touted for months as arguably the best American-born NBA prospect since Anthony Davis, responded with his game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, plus two assists and two blocks.

He played every second after halftime, which became paramount once graduate guard Sion James left with a shoulder injury and freshman big Khaman Maluach exited with cramps. (About those: Scheyer said he’s “concerned” that cramps have impacted Duke’s freshmen in all three games thus far, but it’s something Duke’s sports science staff is actively addressing, like it did with Paolo Banchero years ago.)

Without Flagg, who had an alley-oop tip-in dunk on Duke’s first possession, Scheyer’s team would never have had a chance to win in the game’s final minute. But, and yes, there’s a “but,” it’s also true that Flagg and Duke’s entire team, really, showed their youth in the second half.

In the first half, Duke had 28 points in the paint to Kentucky’s six. In the second half? Kentucky had 20 to Duke’s 18.

In the first half, Duke had 11 points off turnovers, and Kentucky had none. In the second half? Kentucky had nine, and Duke had only four.

In the first half, Duke had eight fast-break points, to only one for Kentucky. In the second half? Kentucky again had nine to Duke’s four.

That’s not one freshman having two tough possessions. That’s an entire team wilting, or at least looking its age when it could not afford to.

“They showed incredible maturity,” Scheyer said, “and their experience showed in the second half.”

That’s the difference between the nation’s fifth-oldest team and one that starts three freshmen, isn’t it? Flagg, a quick learner, isn’t likely to make those late-game mistakes again. Nor is Knueppel, one of the best shooters in the country, liable to go 5-of-20 overall, or 1-of-8 from 3. Also worth noting: Duke wouldn’t have been in nearly as close a game if it shot anywhere near normal. The Blue Devils entered Tuesday making 14 3-pointers per game, fifth-most in the country, before making just four of their 23 tries from deep, or 17.4 percent.

Still. This is the first time either of those guys have been in a game like this, in a building like this, where CATLANTA feels like an appropriate dateline. Scheyer has said multiple times this summer and season that he didn’t construct Duke’s daunting nonconference schedule in such a way so his team could go undefeated. The Blue Devils still play at Arizona, vs. Kansas in Las Vegas and host Auburn in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

He did it so his team would get better. And while learning from wins is more enjoyable than learning from losses, it isn’t always as effective.

“We got a long season to go,” Scheyer said. “I feel more optimistic tonight, losing, than I did even before, because you find out in this game the character of your team and the heart that they have — and this team’s got a lot of heart.”

Scheyer made a controversial choice to build his third roster around a freshman, even one as talented as Flagg, in the most experienced era in college basketball history. Remember that there have been two freshman starters combined in the past two Final Fours. But if Duke is going to get to that point, it’s going to take Flagg being the best player on the floor in situations like Tuesday.

He wasn’t on his first crack. It happens. But this is how youth gets experience. It lives things.

Want to bet how Flagg’s next game-winning opportunity goes?

“Coach has trust in me to go and make a play,” Flagg said. “I’m glad he had that trust in me, to put the ball in my hands. I’m looking for it in that moment. It didn’t work out, but I’m still going to look for it, no matter what.”

(Photo of Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Kentucky’s Otega Oweh: by Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)