Flagg bearer

Good morning! Was any men’s college basketball game as wild as the SMU women rallying from a 46-14 deficit to beat Pitt — which scored zero third-quarter points — on Sunday? Nah. But we’ve still got lots to cover, including the continued rise of a certain freshman.

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1. Cooper Flagg’s ascendency continues

Nobody had a better week than Cooper Flagg.

The Duke freshman threw down perhaps the dunk of the season vs. Pitt, then followed it up four days later with perhaps the performance of the season: 42 points — on just 14 shots! — to with 6 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal in an 86-78 win over Notre Dame. That line places him among some elite historical company.

The points set an ACC freshman record, and easily surpassed his previous season high of 26. For a player who just turned 18, it’s a reminder of not only his tremendous upside, but what’s capable of here and now. His production 19.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.9 apg and efficiency (119.4 ORtg on 29.4% usage) make a player that’s worthy of the preseason hype.

"He's being himself," Duke teammate Sion James said. "And that's the magic of Cooper Flagg, being himself. He's not forcing anything. He's just being a player, taking the looks as they come. He saw something he liked, and 42 points later, here we are."

It’s enough that Flagg vaulted past Auburn Johni Broome in the KenPom POY standings, a success barometer than the rest of the NPOY awards may soon follow. Especially with Broome out for an indefinite period of time due to a serious ankle injury.

Did it help that Flagg did this against Notre Dame (7-9, 1-4 in ACC), an average defensive team? And will it further boost his numbers with even more games against meh ACC teams? I(n the next five games, only Virginia and Georgia Tech rank as top 100 defensive teams. (I shudder to think what he’ll do against Miami.)

Teams will certainly start scheming even more for him, and trying to force the other players on No. 4 Duke (14-2, 6-0) to beat them. But that’s why Flagg has thrived thus far.

"They've got the right mix of guys with him," Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "If they had him and they didn't have shooting or they had people that needed the ball and were ball-dominant, then it probably wouldn't work. But they've done a good job evaluating and finding the right people to put around him, so it makes him a really tough matchup."

2. Impact of Broome’s injury + SEC road warriors

Auburn’s probably going to be the No. 1 team when the AP poll lands this morning. But as the Tigers’ 66-63 win over South Carolina on Saturday showed, playing like the No. 1 team will be a tall order without star big man Johni Broome.

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