March Madness Mayhem: Cooper Flagg Cements Duke Legacy With Epic Sweet 16 Performance
Newark, N.J
Seven seconds on the clock. The ball in his hands. The pressure of the moment pressing down like a heavyweight fight. Cooper Flagg didn’t just rise to the occasion—he owned it.
As the halftime buzzer blared in Duke’s Sweet 16 battle against Arizona, Flagg’s 25-foot dagger sent the Prudential Center into a frenzy, the Blue Devils into the locker room with a six-point lead, and the internet into meltdown mode.
“Let’s (expletive) go, man!” Flagg roared, and Duke never looked back.
From that electric moment, the No. 1 seed Blue Devils turned a tight contest into a 100-93 triumph, storming into the Elite Eight with Flagg leading the charge. The freshman phenom delivered a 30-point masterpiece, adding six rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks to a performance that felt less like a college basketball game and more like the launch of a legend.
“He was HIM tonight,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer marveled. “I told him to stop deferring. Just be you. And man, was he ever.”
Flagg joined an exclusive club with his stat line, becoming the first player since Dwyane Wade in 2003 to post 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, and 3+ blocks in an NCAA tournament game. But this wasn’t just numbers on a box score. This was a statement—a warning shot to the rest of the field.
Duke’s next opponent? A scorching-hot Alabama squad fresh off an NCAA tournament record 25 three-pointers against BYU. But while the Tide can shoot, they don’t have a Cooper Flagg.
“There’s nothing more I can say about how good he is,” Duke senior guard Sion James said. “Everyone knows.”
Arizona certainly does. Flagg shredded their defense from every angle—drilling threes, orchestrating the offense, swatting shots, and attacking in transition. He left the Wildcats searching for answers and NBA scouts drooling over his future.
Even when Arizona tried to claw back in the second half, cutting the lead to single digits, Flagg refused to let Duke lose. A rebound and a deep jumper? Lead back to 15. A clutch block on Henri Veesaar? Momentum squashed. Ice-cold free throws in the final minute? Game over.
“He led the charge and we all followed him,” Duke freshman center Patrick Ngongba said.
And now, with a Final Four on the horizon, one question remains: Can Alabama survive the inevitable? Because when March Madness comes down to pure talent, one thing is crystal clear—Duke has Flagg, and you don’t.
