Flagg, Proctor lead No. 7 Duke men's basketball in 107-56 exhibition rout against Lincoln

Families and Cameron Crazies alike packed Section 17 to watch the Blue Devils tip off their first exhibition game of the season. The family weekend matchup against Lincoln University featured every player on Duke’s roster, and it was the Blue Devils who routed the Lions in a 107-56 victory.

Nearly every new recruit saw the floor in the first half, showing off a promising range of Blue Devil strength and versatility. The start of the game was tight and featured several Blue Devil fouls. The Lions kept the Blue Devil advantage to just three with 11 minutes remaining, but the flurry from Proctor, Flagg and Knueppel gave their team a commanding 56-34 lead at the half

Caleb Foster, Kon Knueppel, Sion James, Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown started the contest, with head coach Jon Scheyer opting to bring junior Tyrese Proctor off the pine. Flagg made his long-anticipated debut after he scored Duke’s first points of the night with a fadeaway jumper and blocked a Lion 3-pointer. The freshman’s first four field goals also swished through the net, and he logged a team-high six assists before heading into the locker room. 

Not to be outdone, Knueppel’s shooting made a statement of its own. Though the freshman missed his first 3-point attempt, he made good on 5-of-7 from behind the arc as the first half progressed. The Milwaukee native’s triples extended Duke’s lead to double digits, with a 45-28 stiff arm after his fifth 3-pointer.

Proctor, who subbed in for Mason Gillis with five minutes left in the first half, took longer to warm up and scored his first points of the night on a jumper with less than 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Though he struggled at first to sink shots from behind the arc, he found a rhythm as the half ticked down and eventually went 4-for-6 on first-half field goals. It was Proctor who broke the Blue Devils’ field-goal drought near the end of the first half, sinking a three to break the over three minutes of 0-of-5 shooting from behind the arc.

Duke’s defense also shone as the Lions struggled to find open paths to the basket. Though Blue Devil fouls gave them several early opportunities at the free-throw line, key blocks and nine rebounds from 7-foot-2 freshman Khaman Maluach helped Duke build up its first-half lead against Lincoln.

Fouls plagued Duke in the first few minutes of the game, but it spent more total time at the charity stripe than Lincoln. The Blue Devils’ 69.2% shooting on 26 attempts from the free-throw line — as opposed to the Lions’ 7-of-12 — helped them creep ahead as the game progressed.

The start of the second half saw even more separation from the Lions. The Blue Devils held them to a brief 0-of-4 field goal drought, while a tip-in from James and a dunk from Knueppel set the Crazies wild. Maluach scored two additional points with a jumper less than six minutes into the half, also adding two rebounds to his total before subbing out.

Up by almost 30 points, other Blue Devils took to the court. Gillis put up two points but failed to find the basket on three 3-point attempts, while Harris came up short on one. James, Flagg and Maluach returned to play. Moments later, a fast break from James had Duke up 77-48 with just over 10 minutes left in the game. 

Reggie Hudson kept pace for the Lions, consistently making tough shots to finish with 24 points to lead his team. The sophomore guard also attempted more field goals than any other player in the game and recorded an impressive 11-of-22 shooting performance. 

With 7:23 remaining in the game, a turnover by Bakir Cleveland led to a steal by Foster. Flagg dunked the ball to roaring applause, and the Blue Devils were up 81-50. From there, the Blue Devils put on a show. Duke went on a 9-0 run in just 59 seconds, part of a larger 15-2 scoring imbalance spanning six minutes and including six Lincoln turnovers. Evans came out of the under-4 media timeout with back-to-back triples, showcasing his range. 

Cameron Sheffield, Neal Begovich, Spencer Hubbard and Stanley Borden saw the floor in the last three minutes, and the Blue Devils topped 100 points with 2:05 remaining. In two of the loudest cheers of the afternoon, Hubbard drew an and-one and Borden also got on the board with a layup..

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