Flagg, No. 4 Duke Run By Virginia Tech, 88-65

Carter Hill

Sports Director

December 31, 2024

Tobi Lawal dropped a team-high 19 points in Virginia Tech's loss to No. 4 Duke. (Virginia Tech Athletics)

DURHAM, N.C. – Despite hanging in for a bulk of the first half, Virginia Tech (5-8, 0-2 ACC) dropped its second consecutive contest in an 88-65 loss to No. 4 Duke (11-2, 3-0) on Tuesday evening inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

“This is the best Duke team I’ve seen in a bit,” Tech sixth-year head coach Mike Young said. “I think the best defensive team that I’ve seen in my six years in this league. They can really disrupt you with their length and their ability to switch everything. … There’s a reason they’re No. 1 in the country defensively. 

“That’s a pretty good outfit.”

Superstar freshman Cooper Flagg’s a big reason why. The potential No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft effortlessly put up 24 points in just 30 minutes of play, showcasing his abilities at the highest of levels just 10 days after turning 18. 

“He’s just so consistent,” Tech center Patrick Wessler said. “He doesn’t get sped up. He plays at his own pace, so it’s hard to force him into mistakes because he’s just very even-keeled. He does what he can do, which is a whole lot.”

“He’s going to be here [for] about three more months,” Young said. “He’s going to go on and he’s going to do very well for himself. Golly day, he’s terrific. He’s a really good basketball player. 

“Great skills, floor it, pass it, [he] makes the right basketball plays. He’s a dandy.”

In spite of all that, though, Tech actually started the game in an ok spot. Leading 16-14 with 8:08 to go in the half, and having limited the Blue Devils to a 1-of-9 (11%) start from three, that’s when Duke began to surge ahead. 

A Flagg contested three that turned into a four-point play kick-started a 17-2 run – a stretch and which the Blue Devils knocked down four threes – resulting in a 31-18 lead, and eventual 37-27 halftime advantage. 

“They found a rhythm defensively,” Young said. “We had some new things installed that they had some problems with, but good teams and good players and well-coached teams are going to sniff that out and make some subtle adjustments and combat what you’re trying to do, and they did that.”

The Hokies did shoot the ball at a respectable 40% (10-of-25) clip in the first half, but went 3-of-11 (27%) from deep. They also allowed the lead to balloon to a quick 15 right out of the break, with Duke starting 4-of-7 (57%) from the field to begin the second period of play. 

To Tech’s credit, though, it found a way to still get back into the game. Paced by VCU transfer Tobi Lawal’s team-high 19 points, the Hokies cut the deficit back to single digits with 12:55 to play. 

Lawal hit a corner three and went to the rim in transition to make it a 49-40 Blue Devil lead, but after Duke guard Tyrese Proctor immediately answered with a counter trey, and Isaiah Evans backed that up with one of his own, the binge was on to put the game away. 

The Blue Devils would lead by as much as 28, with 67% (18-of-27) shooting in the final 20 minutes serving as a big reason why. 

“They’re a good team, they hit shots,” Wessler said. “We probably didn’t respond the way we should have, but they’re tough. They just kept coming.”

Tech ended up finishing 46% (23-of-50) for the game and 38% (8-of-21) from beyond the arc, but it got outrebounded 35-22, giving up 10 offensive boards and surrendering 17 second-chance points – 15 of them in the first half. 

“You get your stop … and you can’t give them another crack at it, that is going to kill you, and we did it,” Young said. “We’ve rebounded very well. But against that bunch … you’ve got to be really physical and back those guys out of there and sustain that box and go chase it, and we had a couple we didn’t chase as hard as we should.”

Lawal led the way with a team-high 19 points. Wessler added 10, Ben Burnham had nine, Rodney Brown Jr. put up eight, both Mylyjael Poteat and Jaydon Young posted six, former Duke guard Jaden Schutt scored three, and both Brandon Rechsteiner and Ben Hammond finished with two.

Now it’s back to the drawing board.

The Hokies will aim to pick up its first ACC victory of the year when Miami comes to Cassell Coliseum on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

It’ll be just the second contest for the Hurricanes since longtime head coach Jim Larrañaga stepped down a week ago, with former Tech assistant Bill Courtney now leading the charge as the interim head coach.

“It’s just about building,” Wessler said. “It’s a long season. You can’t get hung up on one game. They got us tonight, but we can’t let that affect how we play tomorrow. … It’s more just taking what we did well and kind of forgetting the bad, moving on to the next game.”