Duke Blue Devils freshman star Cooper Flagg on Tuesday night had perhaps his most iconic moment yet as a college basketball player, throwing down an early candidate for dunk of the year. In the second half with 17:35 remaining, Flagg, showing off his two-way abilities, picked off a pass from Pitt guard Jaland Lowe and took the ball coast-to-coast past Lowe towards the basket, where only Panthers 7-footer Guillermo Diaz Graham was standing in his way.
Flagg rose up and threw down a vicious poster dunk over Graham, electrifying the crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
As it turns out, Flagg’s monster dunk was fueled by anger, as the diaper dandy was frustrated at himself for a foul he was assessed moments before the highlight-reel play.
“I got the steal, hit a quick burst, the first defender was still coming toward their basket, kind of got around him, pushed it out and went and made a play,” Flagg said, via 247 Sports. “I was kind of mad at myself for a stupid foul [on the previous play].
“It was definitely a little anger, and I took it out on the rim. To be honest, I kind of felt like as soon as I jumped, my mind kind of went blank and it just all happened really fast.”
The rim was the victim of Flagg’s anger, and to a certain extent, so were the Panthers, who had no answer for the star forward in the 29-point loss to the Blue Devils.
Flagg scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, chipping in 10 rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block in 33 minutes.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer credited Flagg for his response to the early fouls he picked up, adding that the freshman star played with an “edge” in the second half.
“He gets angry, but he’s loose at the same time,” Scheyer said. “He loves being in the arena, but he’s got an edge to him now, and it can go quick. We saw that tonight. He picked up his third [foul] and it just got him going.”
