‘Beat-up’ Flagg battles eye injury as Duke wins
DURHAM, N.C.– Duke players see star freshman Cooper Flagg’s strength regularly and that was on display screen for everybody else Saturday night.Flagg returned for the 2nd half of the No. 2 Blue Devils ‘100-65 victory over Florida State after leaving in the very first half following a tough nasty when he was poked in the eye. “He was battered and scratched,
“colleague Sion James said.” Cooper is one of the hardest guys I have actually ever played with. I trusted that if he was all right, he ‘d be back. He was back and much better than ever.”
Coach Jon Scheyer explained the injury as a bruised eyelid. The topic was individual for Scheyer, a Duke alum whose expert profession ended overseas due to the fact that of an eye injury.
“As a basketball player, you do not think about hurting your eye,” Scheyer stated. “That does not cross your mind. I had never ever seen him look frightened. I thought he was terrified in the beginning, rightfully so, due to the fact that you do not understand how serious or permanent. … I was actually worried about him.”
Flagg sat out more than 11 minutes to end the half, while the team’s eye doctor checked on him. He was back on the court for the first 12 minutes of the second half, completing the game with 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting. He wasn’t provided to talk to reporters after the game.Editor’s Picks 2 Related”He had some vision problems in the very first half and tested it out and he said he was excellent to go, and he was,” Scheyer stated.” … He’s so tough. His mom is chewing out him to rebound and safeguard if he’s returning in the game, so I didn’t need to state a lot.”
Schoolmate Kon Knueppel said he marvelled Flagg was in action for the second half.
“To see him go down and stays down that concerns you a little bit,” Knueppel stated. “Just a couple of scratches on his face.”
For James, it was another example of the aura around Flagg.
“That’s not the craziest thing we’ve seen him do all year,” James stated. “We have actually seen him do crazier things. That’s what makes him who he is.”
Earlier, Flagg made a move towards the lane and was fouled by Florida State’s Jerry Deng. Alier Maluk, a 7-foot freshman, also struck Flagg on the face throughout the sequence.Flagg, who’s thought about the potential No. 1 total draft selection for the NBA, walked gingerly off the court with the aid of colleague Mason Gillis and fitness instructor Jose Fonseca with 11:27 remaining. Duke led 14-11 at the time.Flagg, a 6-foot-9 phenom, had just returned to the game after being dealt with on the bench by Fonseca for an evident cut on his face.Flagg exited the fitness center for extra assessment before going back to the bench a few
minutes later. However on the next timeout, he didn’t sign up with the rest of the Blue Devils in the huddle around Scheyer. He was cheering from the bench as heaven Devils extended their double-digit lead. Then with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the half, he exited the health club again and went back to the bench a couple of minutes later.Duke led 47-30 at the break.Flagg entered the game balancing 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists.Duke was
already without starting point
guard Tyrese Proctor, who sustained a knee injury Tuesday night at Miami, and injured
backup forward Maliq Brown.Earlier in the week, Flagg set an ACC record by being chosen as ACC Rookie of the Week for the 11th time.