DURHAM, N.C. – Cooper Flagg said he hadn't seen enough angles yet to give an official grade to his monster second-half dunk against Pitt, but the Duke freshman guessed it was around an 8.5 out of 10.
His partner Tyrese Proctor went a little further.
“That's the best dunk in the game I've ever seen in my life,” Proctor said. “It could be one of the best dunks, period.”
As soon as No. 4 Duke returned to the locker room after a resounding 76-47 victory over Pitt, Proctor had the dunk on his phone with the entire team gathered around to watch it again.
Flagg had grown frustrated after a low-key first half in which he committed two early fouls, sat for an extended period and finished with just five points. He added foul number 3 with 17:43 left and was visibly frustrated.
A moment later, he stole a pass near the baseline, drove the length of the court, took off near the top of the key and scored the dunk, which electrified the crowd as Duke coach Jon Scheyer called it “a Zion-type play.” “, remembering the emotion of former star Zion Williamson's best moments at Cameron Indoor.
“We've had a few guys over the years make a couple plays that got everyone in the building excited,” Scheyer said. “That was one of those moments tonight.”
Flagg admitted he was “angry” after being called for his third foul, saying he could have taken out some frustration at the rim on the next dunk.
He said that at midcourt he knew he was going to score, but it wasn't until he read the defender in the paint that he decided to dunk. From there, he said, everything was a blur.
“I almost went blank as soon as I jumped, and everything that happened was just a flash,” said Flagg, who finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. “I jumped, my mind went blank and it all happened so fast.”
Flagg looked at the crowd, which was loudly celebrating the moment, and then was swallowed up by her teammates. Pitt's Guillermo Diaz Graham was fouled on the play and Flagg made the ensuing free throw. After Pitt missed a layup on the other end, Flagg delivered another dunk to put Duke up by 14, although the second wasn't as acrobatic as the first, which he said was a “three-best” for him.
“He gets angry, but at the same time he relaxes,” Scheyer said. “He loves being in the sand, but now he has an advantage and can go fast. We saw that tonight. He got his third [foul] and that just got him going.”
Duke dominated after Flagg's heroics, outscoring the Panthers 37-21 after the dunk. Flagg's second half included 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. It was plus-16 at the half.
After the game, which Duke finished 18-0, Scheyer emphasized that there should be no debate about who is the best player in the country right now.
“It's shown by who he played with and how he did it in such a mature way,” Scheyer said. “He's very competitive and gets a lot of good things out of his teammates.”
