Michael Cohen
College Football and College Basketball Writer
NEW YORK — The moment so many of these fans came to see — the ones proudly wearing blue and white, anyway — unfolded barely a minute into the second half of an already lopsided affair. A turnover by Illinois point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, the highly talented B-side of Saturday’s primetime showcase, gave way to Duke star Cooper Flagg loping across midcourt with nary a body between him and the hoop. Flagg gathered the ball in his mitt-sized right hand and then vaulted into the air for a vicious slam that set Madison Square Garden ablaze, extending the Blue Devils’ lead to 19 before scores of spectators had even returned from their halftime concession runs.
Cooper Flagg throws down VICIOUS DUNK after steal as Duke leads Illinois, 56-37
That bucket, which Flagg bolstered with another soaring, two-handed jam moments later, followed by a muscled layup through contact that gave him the chance to flex both biceps in front of Duke’s thickest section of supporters, was exactly what everyone around the program envisioned when this game was announced six months ago: the most hyped high school prospect in years making a lasting memory in The World’s Most Famous Arena, dunking his way through a record-breaking season as he leads an ultra-talented blue blood toward what could be the program’s first national championship since 2015 — all while cementing his case as the presumptive No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
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