WATCH: Wild locker room scenes after Cooper Flagg and Co. lead Duke victory in Jon Scheyer's absence

Despite being without head coach Jon Scheyer, the Duke Blue Devils were able to win by double digits against the SMU Mustangs, 89-62, on Saturday. The victory gives the team, who houses standouts Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, their fourth straight dub of the 2024-2025 ACC and 12th overall as they now lead the fray early on in the conference.

Associate coach Chris Carrawell stepped in as the main tactician for the absent Scheyer. His main highlight from the game was being able to adjust every time SMU made a run against Duke. They were able to showcase why they are a top defensive team in the nation by holding the Mustangs to 62 points total, who were averaging 87 markers a game beforehand.

After the matchup, several Duke players, including Flagg and Kneuppel, surprised Carrawell by dousing him with water in the locker room in celebration of the triumph.

Carrawell was then quoted as saying:

"I just wanna shout out my guy coach Scheyer, I know he wanted to be here. And, I want to thank these guys and our team, our coaching staff. Our players really came out today and played well on both ends from start to finish. Excellent job and total team effort."

Scheyer did not travel with the squad for the conference game due to an undisclosed illness. He is reported to return for Duke's ACC fixture versus the Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

For now, Cooper Flagg and company are reaping in the victory that was spearheaded by their beloved acting coach.

The starters were in full effect en route to the SMU win

The trio of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and junior guard Tyrese Proctor were the only Blue Devils who scored in double figures as Flagg led the team with 24 points followed by Kneuppel and Proctor pitching in 14 markers apiece.

Flagg was also putting his stamp everywhere on the court to the tune of 11 boards, three assists, a steal and two blocks.

Senior Sion James and first-year stalwart Khaman Maluach made their contributions to the triumph. James had a team-high eight assists while Maluach was a force down low alongside Flagg with his eight points and eight rebounds.