"He had no idea what he was doing, looked like he's never played": Jon Scheyer takes a playful dig at Cooper Flagg for Duke's last-resort zone defense

NCAA Basketball: Duke at Wake Forest - Source: Imagn
Cooper Flagg getting a block in Saturday's win over Wake Forest. - Source: Jim Dedmon, Imagn

Duke Blue Devils swingman Cooper Flagg was one of the key pieces once again in his team's ninth straight conference victory of the season. On Saturday, he helped the Jon Scheyer-coached squad uncork a 63-56 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and has now maintained its top standing in the ACC.

Flagg dropped a game-high 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting with seven rebounds, six assists and a block in all but one minute of the contest. But even with the Newport, Maine, native being the only one to reach the 20-point mark in the matchup, Scheyer said it was their out-of-nowhere zone defense scheme that won them the game.

During the postgame press conference, the third-year Blue Devils coach discussed their last-resort zone defense in the dying minutes against Wake Forest. But he did acknowledge that Flagg may need some more runs with the set to truly utilize his potential.

"We haven't played it. We've played it one possession all year," Scheyer said. "But we've kept it in our back pocket just in case, and it's good to have a curveball. It just is, even if it's not the best zone in the world. He (Flagg) had no idea what he was doing, looked like he's never played (zone)."

Scheyer would then ask Flagg if he had ever played zone, to which the 6-foot-9 sensation said he hadn't with a "Nope."

"You'll do at some point," the 37-year-old then replied before saying, "I thought were trying to stand him up a little bit, and sometimes late in game, that's what he can do. So, we'll have it on our back pocket. But I give these guys credit. You still have to make it work. We haven't practiced it too much, but had it in our back pocket just in case."

There's no denying that the Demon Deacons may not have expected the zone defense pressed against them by Duke, which is why the No. 9-ranked Blue Devils are now 17-2 overall in the campaign.

Cooper Flagg lauds his teammates' ability to respond in the clutch

The Duke Blue Devils were down by as much as six points in the last few minutes of the second half against Wake Forest but responded big to pull away with a seven-point triumph. During the presser, Cooper Flagg commended his team for its efforts to stay in the mix despite not having many situations like that this season.

"The response for us was huge," he said (0:55). "It's great for us to kind of feel. We haven't been in a ton of those positions throughout this year so, I thought it was a big opportunity for us to kind of show we can stay composed even when a team makes a run, just stay level-headed."

Flagg and the Blue Devils will now prepare as they host the NC State Wolfpack on Monday, in the hopes of nabbing their 10th straight ACC victory, 18th overall on the season.

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Edited by R. Elahi
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