The Duke Blue Devils kicked off their 2024-25 season with a dominant 96-62 victory over the Maine Black Bears on Monday, November 4. Their teamwork was really good throughout the game, but it was more than a season opener.
Duke came into this hoping to win their season opener and start off a good path.
Freshman Cooper Flagg had an impressive debut, scoring 18 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. At the same time, Kon Knueppel scored 22 points as a team high.
Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer thinks there is more work to be done, but the team is in the right direction.
“It was a good first step. I thought there was a lot to clean up and plenty to get better at,
but I like the effort,” says Scheyer.
The Blue Devils showcased a well-rounded offense and a tough defense, featuring six players who scored in double figures and a shooting percentage of 55.6% from the field. Their coach was very impressed with the shooting percentage.
Kon Kneupple led the team shooting 56% from the field with an impressive start to the season.
“It feels good to get a win in the first game and start 1-0 at home. I think we played all right. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement,” says Kneupple.
Duke showcased a powerful performance in the second half where they went up ahead with an 11-0 run, making a 60-39 lead. The Blue Devils want to carry this momentum into their upcoming game, facing a challenging schedule in the days to come.
They were slow in the first half, and they turned it up in the second half hitting shots and playing aggressive defense.
“It’s the first game – I think there’s going to be a couple of bumps in the games we play, so we’ve got to get those worked out. It was good to get it going in the second half,” says Knepple.
Standout Cooper Flagg put on a show in his debut scoring 18 pts 7 rebounds and 5 assist. He was viewed as the number one freshman coming into this season with high expectations
Flagg impacts the game in many ways not just scoring near the rim.
“It’s just something that’s always been a part of my game, just trying to impact [the game] in a lot of different ways, whether it’s making the right play, finding an open teammate, rebounding, whatever it is,” said Flagg
