Duke defeated Maine, 96-62, in the season opener

DURHAM, N.C – The No. 7 Duke men's basketball team kicked off the 2024-25 season with a 96-62 win over Maine on Monday, Nov. 4, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Six different Blue Devils finished with at least 10 points, one step at a time Kon Knueppels 22, and Cooper Flag became the first Duke player to record at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in his freshman debut.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duke's freshman duo Kon stick And Khaman Maluach combined for Duke's first two shots as each found their way to the rim for layups in the first two minutes. The visitors tied the score at 6-6, but Duke responded with consecutive layups Caleb Foster And Mason Gillis to regain the leadership.
• Knueppel made the first three-pointer of the Duke season and gave the freshman nine points early. Two free throws over Cooper Flag extended the Blue Devils' lead to double digits for the first time, 19-9. A four-point game from Knueppel gave the Milwaukee, Wisconsin native 13 points early.
• A corner three from Mason Gillis sparked a 14-point burst from Duke and triggered a Maine timeout with 12:24 left, with the Blue Devils leading 17-26-9. The Black Bears responded with nine straight points coming out of the break, pulling within eight points at 26-18 halfway through the first 20 minutes of play.
• The two teams traded baskets for most of the remainder of the first half, with Flagg capping the final minutes of the game with a high-flying dunk. Duke remained ahead by double digits (44-33) at halftime and was led by Knueppel's 15 first-half points.
• A three-pointer from Proctor opened the scoring for Duke in the second half. Flagg and Maluach combined for the next six points as the Blue Devils took a 14, 53-39 lead. Another three-pointer, this time from Knueppel, extended the lead and forced a Maine timeout.
• Consecutive layups through contact from Sion James gave the Tulane transfer seven points for the game and Duke went on an 11-0 scoring run that lasted just over three minutes.
• Knueppel passed 20 points with a layup at 9:47 of the second half, and a quick 10-2 run by the Blue Devils extended the hosts' lead to 24, 72-48, with just over eight minutes to play.
• Duke remained ahead 85-56 at the final media timeout of the game. The Blue Devils' defense held Maine to just a single field goal with 10:59 left in the finale to secure the 96-62 victory.

NOTES

• The Blue Devils outscored Maine 52-29 in the second half and held the Black Bears to a field goal with 10:59 left in the final game.
• Duke outscored the visitors 40-27 overall and dominated the glass in the second half with a 24-9 rebound advantage.
• Six Blue Devils scored double-digit points in Monday night's win, marking the first time Duke scored six double-digit points since Feb. 19, 2022 against Florida State.
• Duke's defense limited Maine to just four assists on 21 baskets while forcing 14 turnovers from the Black Bears.
• Duke is now 93-27 in the season opener and has rattled off 25 straight wins to start the season.
• The Blue Devils have won 43 straight home openers.
• Duke won both meetings against Maine. The first matchup was a 94-55 win for the Blue Devils in Durham on December 3, 2016.
• Kon stick scored a game-high 22 points, including 15 in the first 16 minutes. The freshman shot 8 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 8 from distance and 3 of 3 from the free throw line.
• Cooper Flag collected 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, becoming the first freshman in Duke history to record at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in his debut.
• Caleb Foster And Sion James Each scored 11 points while Tyrese Proctor And Mason Gillis Added 10 points each.
• Khaman Maluach posted six points, six boards and three blocked shots in his collegiate debut.
• Maliq Brown grabbed seven rebounds to tie Flagg while dishing out four assists.

QUOTES

• “It was a good first step. I thought there would be a lot to clean up and a lot to improve, but I like the effort. I thought the first eight minutes were really strong. And then Maine deserves credit for Chris.”[Markwood] does a great job with these guys. Very disciplined. They force you to work late into the shot clock. So with a sustained effort you have to defend and then come back and put on a good offense. I don't think we can do that consistently, but there are some really good things. For Cooper [Flagg] and Kon [Knueppel]I thought it was really good to play the way they played in their first game. And I thought Tyrese [Proctor]even if he didn't take a lot of shots, just the way he made others better. He had five rebounds, defended and made simple plays. I could go through every player but it's a good first game for us. There is a lot to build on and a lot to do better.” – Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
• “It feels good to win in the first game and start 1-0 at home. I think we played well. We have a lot of room for improvement. We have to get a little better defensively there. “We lost the rebound battle in the first half, so that’s not good [against] a team that is not as big as us. We were a little shaky with the ball tonight. We could have done a little better and played like we did in the exhibition games. We just have to keep playing together. It's the first game – I think there will be a few bumps in the games we play, so we need to fix those. “It was good to get going in the second half.” – Duke freshman Kon stick
• “It’s just something that’s always been part of my game, just trying to make an impact.” [the game] in a lot of different ways, whether it's making the right play, finding an open teammate, rebounding, whatever. Our team is generally proud of this. Aside from shots, only about six percent of the game makes or misses shots. So we're just proud of the 94 percent that doesn't involve shots – rebounding, good defense, energetic play, things like that that we can control. That was huge for us and a big focus for us, just trying to impact the game in any way we can.” – Duke freshman Cooper Flag about how it influences the game in many ways

NEXT

• No. 7 Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium to host Army West Point on Friday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

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