As your entire school basketball group fearful concerning the standing of Duke phenom Cooper Flagg on Thursday afternoon, a ultimate 20 minutes nonetheless needed to be performed in Charlotte.
The highest-ranked Blue Devils trailed Georgia Tech by 5 on the half within the ACC Match quarterfinals and must overcome the crushing improvement of not figuring out if their finest participant would swimsuit up once more this season after a nasty left ankle sprain had him being transported in a wheelchair within the bowels of the sector.
Enter fellow star freshman Kon Knueppel to avoid wasting the day.
Knueppel scored a career-high 28 factors, together with 22 within the second half, to energy Duke to the come-from-behind 78-70 win towards eighth-seeded Georgia Tech.
He added eight rebounds and 5 blocks whereas taking part in 38 minutes.
“For Kon, he plays at a great pace,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer mentioned. “He has great size, which allows him to score over the top, or pass, and then you surround him with shooting still.”
One of many benefits of being a program like Duke is having gamers of Knueppel’s caliber to step up within the absence of the projected No. 1 decide within the 2025 NBA Draft.
Knueppel is the No. 19 recruit within the 2024 class and a projected lottery decide, with a current NBA.com mock draft having the Path Blazers choose him with the No. 10 decide.
That ceiling would probably make him the highest freshman on most groups within the nation, however Flagg has lengthy been thought of the slam dunk selection at No. 1 this upcoming 12 months.
Knueppel confirmed why he’s going to be an early decide Thursday when he pioneered the Blue Devils’ second-half rally after trailing by as many as 14 within the first half.
Duke took the court docket trailing, 31-26, on the half whereas some puzzled if Flagg can be accessible for the NCAA Match.
Knueppel opened the second-half scoring with a 3 to impress a 12-0 run that gave the Blue Devils a lead they’d by no means relinquish.
He later all however sealed the sport with a three-point play with 4:57 remaining that gave Duke an 11-point benefit.
Scheyer defined the capturing that surrounds Knueppel aids him, and praised the “two-man game” between the projected lottery decide and fellow freshman Khaman Maluach.
“Him and Khaman have developed a great two-man game, and I think you saw that tonight,” Scheyer mentioned.
“It puts teams in a position, what do you do. I’ve never seen them switch. They start switching late. Usually they drop, and Kon does a great job of probing and getting in the paint.”
Flagg continues to be a “long shot” to play Friday towards North Carolina within the semifinals, nevertheless it’s a great signal for the Blue Devils that he didn’t undergo a break.
The onus could fall on Knueppel to guide the Blue Devils once more.
