"Exposed the frauds": Cooper Flagg, Duke come under fire from fans after Clemson pulls off major upset

No. 2 Duke had a surprising 77-71 loss to Clemson on Saturday. While Cooper Flagg has been all that he was expected and Duke has been a top team all season, a rough defeat seems to have angered many fans.

The loss was Duke's third in 23 games this season. Flagg has been a significant part of their success. The highly touted freshman came into Saturday's game second in the ACC in scoring (19.5 points per game) and eighth in rebounds (172 or 7.8 per game).

In the loss to Clemson, Flagg had a poor shooting night, making only 6 of 17 attempts. He still finished with 18 points and five rebounds, but Duke was outrebounded 36-23 and a critical late turnover by Flagg left the door open for the Clemson upset.

"Exposed the frauds, they aren’t number 2 caliber good."

Other fans weighed in on the Blue Devils' status as the nation's No. 2 squad.

"This Duke team reminds me of a Gonzaga team. They play nobody in the regular season and get an overrated seed. Thus, leading to an early upset in the tournament. Being challenged this hard by a team that lost at home to Georgia Tech last game. Seems to signal overrated," noted one fan.

Others were more direct in their criticism.

Flagg's late game stumble is oddly the third time all season that late slips from the Duke star have hurt the team in a close loss.

"The Cooper Flagg ISO-for-the-win plan needs to be scrapped FOREVER," noted one Duke backer.

Yet other fans made reactions personal to both the team and the star freshman.

With the game being televised by ESPN and the return of legendary college basketball personality Dick Vitale, some took the opportunity to criticize both Duke and ESPN's treatment of its favored program.

"DUKE IS SO OVERRATED...ACC CONFERENCE IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. STOP WITH THE COOPER FLAGG GOD WORSHIP, ESPECIALLY EVERY ESPN ANALYST!" wrote one fan.

Flagg's Season at Duke

Despite the late-game stumbles, Flagg has done a phenomenal job at Duke, as notable as any first-year star in the team's history. Among the highlights of his season have been six double-doubles and a 42-point game against Notre Dame. Aside from his scoring, Flagg leads the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots.

Heading into the season, Flagg was a strong consensus future No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Nothing has changed on that front, but Saturday was a sobering reminder that plenty of social media haters are just waiting on the star freshman to err.

What do you think of Flagg and the Blue Devils? Share your take below in our comment section!