Cooper Flagg drops 18 points, throws down a massive dunk in Duke debut while leading the Blue Devils to victory over Maine

The Cooper Flagg era in Durham is in full swing.

Flagg and No. 7 Duke earned a commanding 96-62 win over Maine on Monday night, officially marking the start of the 2024-25 men's college basketball season. It was fans' first chance to get a glimpse of the 17-year-old star, who is projected to be the No. 1 pick in next summer's NBA draft and the most anticipated college player in recent memory.

Flagg opened his college career in front of many notable Duke alumni and his family, including his twin brother, who is still in high school, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils' season opener was fittingly against a university also located less than an hour from his hometown in Maine. Flagg is undoubtedly one of the best basketball players this state has ever produced. His longtime AAU coach even compared his rise to the legendary Jamaican bobsled team at the 1988 Olympics.

Flagg finished the win with 18 points and scored his first points of the night at the free throw line in the opening minutes.

Despite shooting just 6 of 15 from the field and missing all four of his 3-point attempts, Flagg had his moments in the stunning win over the Black Bears. He even threw down a massive one-handed dunk toward the end of the first half.

At halftime, the Blue Devils had an 11-point lead. They easily took the lead in the second half and secured the 34-point win. Flagg briefly went down late in the game after making a layup, but he appeared to tell a Duke coach that he just had calf cramps. He was helped off the floor, but soon he was seen lying on the bench, smiling and laughing. The Blue Devils had a 29-point lead at that point.

Flagg added seven rebounds and five assists. It was Duke freshman Kon Knueppel who led the way for the Blue Devils. Knueppel, a Rivals.com five-star recruit from Wisconsin, scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half while shooting 5 of 8 from the field in the first 20 minutes. He also finished the game with four rebounds and two assists.

Duke shot better than 55% from the field as a team, and six different players scored in double figures in the win. Sophomore guard Caleb Foster added 11 points and Tulane transfer Sion James finished with 11 points off the bench.

Monday night wasn't much of a challenge for Flagg or the Blue Devils, but it was a great first start to head coach Jon Scheyer's third season with the program. They will face Army later this week before key games against No. 23 Kentucky, No. 10 Arizona and No. 1 Kansas before Thanksgiving.

But as debuts go, Flaggs was very solid. With all the pieces around him seemingly working perfectly right away, the Blue Devils should be a major threat in the ACC this season.