Blue Devils blitz Bears. Three takeaways as Cooper Flagg scores 27 points in Duke win.

Steve Wiseman, The News & Observer on Feb 12, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DURHAM, N.C. — No. 3 Duke’s early 3-point barrage made things comfortable as the Blue Devils responded to their first ACC loss with a resounding win.

Duke hit five of its first seven 3-pointers to build an early double-digit lead and rolled to a 78-57 basketball win over California on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Having lost, 77-71, at Clemson last Saturday, the Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 ACC) bounced back to post their 10th double-digit win in league play this season.

Cooper Flagg scored 27 points to lead Duke, which led 38-23 at halftime and never saw its lead drop below 12 points in the second half. Flagg’s layup while drawing a foul, and subsequent free throw, at 16:47 pushed Duke’s lead over 20 points for the first time at 50-29.

Tyrese Proctor added 18 points, making 3 of 6 3-pointers.

The Blue Devils shot 46.6% and made 9 of 25 3-pointers (36%).

Cal (12-13, 5-9), which never led in the game, shot 35.1%, including 7 of 23 (30.4%) on 3-pointers.

Here are three takeaways from the Duke win:

Full roster again

Mason Gillis returned to play for the Blue Devils after missing the last two games with illness. The 6-6 grad student, a transfer who played the last four seasons at Purdue, had played in every Duke game this season prior to not traveling with the Blue Devils for their 83-54 win at Syracuse or their 77-71 loss at Clemson.

Because Maliq Brown had missed four consecutive January games with a sprained knee, Wednesday night marked just the second game in the last eight the Blue Devils had their full roster available.

The third Duke reserve player to enter the game against Cal, Gillis hit a 3-pointer to give Duke its first double-digit lead at 19-9 with 11:44 remaining in the first half.

He played 15 minutes against Cal, scoring three points.

Defensive stinginess returns

While Clemson found far too many interior scoring chances for Duke coach Jon Scheyer’s liking, on the way to a 58.8% shooting day that marked the first team to shoot 50% or better against the Blue Devils this season, Duke looked like its lockdown self against Cal.

The Golden Bears hit just 8 of 28 first-half shots, including 3 of 12 3-pointers, to fall so far behind they had no chance to catch up.

Cal’s 35.1% shooting marked the eighth time in 13 league games a team has failed to hit 40% of its shots against Duke.

Where Clemson scored 40 points in the paint, a number that alarmed Scheyer, Cal netted just 20.

Maluach re-emerges

Quiet on the offensive end of the court for most of the last month, 7-2 freshman center Khaman Maluach scored 10 points with 10 rebounds to end a stretch of six consecutive games where he’d failed to score more than eight points.

Maluach made 4 of 8 shots to reach double figures for the first time since he scored 12 points in Duke’s 89-54 win over Miami on Jan. 14. That’s a big change from Saturday, when he failed to make a field goal and scored only three points in Duke’s loss at Clemson.

Maluach’s double-double was his first since he also had 15 rebounds in that win over Miami. His 12 rebounds helped Duke easily win that battle with Cal, as the Blue Devils had 43 rebounds to the Golden Bears’ 31.