"Ummm, I don't really remember, but he seemed a little jacked up, a little nervous," Knueppel said after No. 2 Duke had smashed rival North Carolina, 87-70. "In warmups, I'm not t

Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg helped the team power past North Carolina, but the freshman is still critical of his performance.

Cooper Flagg’s dominant month of January put him in elite company among men’s college basketball players of the last 25 years. Flagg, who turned 18 in late December, has elevated his game since the calendar flipped to 2025 from excellent to otherworldly.

In his first rivalry game against North Carolina, Cooper Flagg had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks as Duke rolled 87-70.

Following the matchup against the Tar Heels, the ACC made an announcement regarding Flagg. The star freshman has been named the Co-Player and Rookie of the Week. Flagg shared the Co-Player of the Week honors with Donald Hand Jr. of Boston College.

It was never more clear than on Saturday night that the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are a pair of programs heading into drastically different directions. An 87-70 win for the 2nd-ranked Blue Devils over their in-state rival wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated,