No. 2 Duke rolls past Miami 97-60, gets 25th win of the season
Isaiah Evans scores 16 points in the first half after going 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — — Kon Knueppel scored 20 points, Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans each added 16 and No. 2 Duke rolled past Miami 97-60 on Tuesday night.
Flagg, the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, added six assists and five rebounds for the Blue Devils (25-3, 16-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Duke led by 15 at the half, and Knueppel scored eight points in a 16-2 burst by the Blue Devils early in the second half to push the lead to 65-36.
Lynn Kidd scored 17 points and Jalil Bethea had 13 for Miami (6-22, 2-15), which was without guard Matthew Cleveland. Miami has lost four games by 35 or more points this season, after having four such losses from 1987 through 2024.
Takeaways
Duke: The Blue Devils have won five straight, those wins coming by an average of 31 points. This was the Blue Devils’ 13th win by 25 or more points this season.
Miami: The Hurricanes’ 22 losses are two shy of the school’s single-season record with three conference games remaining. Miami went 8-24 in 1991-92.
Key moment
Evans made three consecutive 3-pointers in a span of 1:40 in the first half, the first two immediately answering 3-pointers made at the other end by Bethea. Evans’ third one gave Duke a 29-14 lead.
Key stat
The win improved coach Jon Scheyer’s record at Duke to 79-21, the best through 100 games in school history. Vic Bubas was 76-24 in his first 100 games at the school; Mike Krzyzewski was 52-48 at that point in his Duke career.
Up next
Both teams play Saturday, about 8 miles apart. Duke returns home to face Florida State, while Miami visits North Carolina.
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Duke Blue Devils
Miami Hurricanes
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Game Information
2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
Men’s College Basketball News
| 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DUKE | 47 | 50 | 97 |
| MIA | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 16-1 | – | 25-3 |
| Clemson | 14-2 | 1.5 | 22-5 |
| Louisville | 14-2 | 1.5 | 21-6 |
| SMU | 11-5 | 4.5 | 20-7 |
| Wake Forest | 11-5 | 4.5 | 19-8 |
| North Carolina | 11-6 | 5 | 18-11 |
| Stanford | 9-7 | 6.5 | 17-10 |
| Georgia Tech | 8-9 | 8 | 14-14 |
| Virginia Tech | 7-9 | 8.5 | 12-15 |
| Florida State | 7-10 | 9 | 16-12 |
| Pittsburgh | 7-10 | 9 | 16-12 |
| Virginia | 6-10 | 9.5 | 13-14 |
| Notre Dame | 6-10 | 9.5 | 12-15 |
| California | 5-11 | 10.5 | 12-15 |
| Syracuse | 5-11 | 10.5 | 11-16 |
| Boston College | 4-12 | 11.5 | 12-15 |
| NC State | 4-12 | 11.5 | 11-16 |
| Miami | 2-15 | 14 | 6-22 |
Duke Blows By Miami 97-60, But Proctor Injures His Knee
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In a game like Duke-Miami, there is always a chance that Duke, #3 in the country and fresh off a huge win against Illinois in the Garden, comes out a little bit flat and also that a struggling team like Miami plays out of its mind.
As it turns out, that didn’t happen, or at least not to the point of danger as Duke won 97-60, but with a potential dark cloud as Tyrese Proctor left just before halftime holding his knee. He did not return.
Duke jumped out to a 15-2 lead and Miami couldn’t buy a shot early.
The ‘Canes started out 2-9/0-5 and with four turnovers in the first eight minutes as Duke extended its lead to 29-14.
The ‘Canes had some moments in the first half though, notably Jalil Bethea, who heated up from three point range, hitting 3-6 and, as the announcers pointed out, outperformed Illinois’ entire first half three point production in New York Saturday (the Illini missed 18 before finally connecting in the second half).
However, Isaiah Evans hit 5-6 in a first-half three point duel, including a four-point play, going into halftime with 16.
Miami played credibly in the first half and Duke may have been a little flat but the gap between these teams is considerable.
Miami had just eight scholarship players available and their best player, Matthew Cleveland, was out. Lynne Kidd was questionable but played well.
Duke finished the first half shooting 61.5 percent from both three point range and overall. The ‘Canes by contrast shot just 37.5/23.5 percent and had 11 turnovers. They did dominate the boards with 18 overall and 11 offensive. Duke had 11 and 4.
Even without Proctor, Duke started the second half on a 10-2 run to go up 57-34.
Miami made some unforced errors in the early second half, continuing a pattern of competing for part of a game then falling apart in the second half. The ‘Canes passed inside to (we think) Kidd and it just rolled out of bounds, untouched. On a later play, the ball handler just dribbled into Sion James who just picked the ball up. It was kind of sad, honestly. You know those guys wanted to play better than that.
The Blue Devils went up by 31, 69-38, with 12:30 left to play on a James jumper in the lane and from there on out, this game was essentially a scrimmage.
Knueppel finished with 20, Flagg had 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Evans finished with 16 and Foster, who has come on strong in limited minutes lately, had 10.
Duke next plays Florida State at home on Saturday.
Notes – Although the Proctor situation is concerning, Foster’s recent play suggests he’s ready to step up and Evans has been great lately…you could see the contours of a nice player in former 5-star Bethea but he’s still not there yet…it’s nice to see Ngongba’s game emerging…he’s not overly athletic but he can refine that as he matures…you can’t teach intelligence…we’d have to go back and watch the last couple of games to see more clearly but Maluach is getting better fast…he needs to understand his length better and be more assertive but that’s coming…
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Cooper Flagg points today: How many did Duke basketball star score in win over Miami?
With his March Madness debut not too far away, Cooper Flagg continues to be one of the top players in men’s college basketball.
His latest showing came in a game in which he didn’t necessarily need to be the go-to scorer for No. 2 Duke. He still impacted the scoring sheet, similar to his game vs. Illinois over the weekend at Madison Square Garden.
The 6-foot-9 guard, who is considered the No. 1 overall prospect in the NBA draft, finished with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting with six assists and five rebounds in the Blue Devils’ 97-60 rout of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
REQUIRED READING:March Madness: Big Ten teams rise and fall in Bracketology projection of NCAA Tournament field
Given the margin of victory for the Blue Devils, Duke coach Jon Scheyer rested Flagg for the final six minutes of the second half. With the win, Flagg helped Duke improve to 16-1 in ACC play and 25-3 overall on the season.
Duke, who will next take on Florida State on Saturday, is currently projected as a No. 1 seed in both USA TODAY and Joe Lunardi’s latest NCAA Tournament projections. Tuesday’s win over Miami improved Duke’s record against Quad 3 opponents to a perfect 9-0.
Here’s a look at Flagg’s full stats against Miami on Tuesday:
Here’s Flagg’s full stat line from Tuesday’s road win at Miami:
Entering Tuesday’s game at Duke, Flagg ranked third in the ACC in scoring at 19.5 points per game and eighth in the conference with 4.0 assists per game. He leads Duke in every statistical category: scoring, rebounds (7.7), assists, steals (1.6) and blocks (1.1).
Here’s a full look at Flagg’s season stats at Duke entering Tuesday’s game vs. Miami:
