Duke vs Maine: Box score, stats, game summary and more ft. Cooper Flagg

The Duke Blue Devils opened their 2024-25 college basketball season campaign on a bright note, beating the Maine Black Bears, 96-62, on Monday at the Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke, ranked No. 7 in the AP preseason poll, lived up to its billing, building a 17-point lead in the first 7:30 of the game.

The Blue Devils didn't live up to their attack in the second half, building a 36-point lead in the closing minutes of the game to take the win.

Maine, on the other hand, had some moments in the first half and kept up with Duke's pace, reducing the 17-point deficit to eight.

However, the Black Bears weren't able to hold their fort, as the Blue Devils proved to be too strong for them.

No.1 freshman recruit Cooper Flagg finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in 29 minutes to help Duke to its first win.

Five-star forward Kon Knueppel took advantage of the spotlight focused on Flagg. He led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field.

Quion Burns led Maine with 15 points while Keelan Steele added 11.

Duke vs Maine box score

TEAM	1ST	2ND	TOTAL
Duke	44	52	96
Maine	33	29	62

Duke Blue Devils

Name	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Isaiah Evans	G	6	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	2	1	0	0	0	2	0
Kon Knueppel	G	31	8-14	3-8	3-3	1	4	2	1	0	1	3	22
Darren Harris	G	3	1-1	1-1	3-5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Cooper Flagg	F	29	6-15	0-4	6-6	1	7	5	3	0	2	2	18
Tyrese Proctor	G	25	3-6	3-5	1-1	0	5	0	0	0	1	2	10
Caleb Foster	G	22	5-9	1-3	0-2	1	2	3	0	0	2	2	11
Maliq Brown	F	21	1-2	0-1	0-0	4	7	4	1	0	2	1	2
Sion James	G	20	4-6	1-2	2-2	1	3	1	2	0	2	2	11
Mason Gillis	F	20	4-6	2-4	0-0	0	3	0	3	0	1	2	10
Khaman Maluach	C	17	3-3	0-0	0-1	2	6	1	0	3	1	2	6
Cameron Sheffield	G	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neal Begovich	F	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Ngongba	C	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stanley Borden	C	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Spencer Hubbard	G	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total			35-63	11-29	15-20	11	40	17	10	3	13	18	96

Maine Black Bears

Name	POS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	ST	TO	PF	PTS
Novak Perovic	G	8	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Kellen Tynes	G	30	3-10	0-2	1-2	1	5	2	3	2	2	7
Jaden Clayton	G	29	3-9	0-2	2-2	1	4	1	2	5	3	8
Quion Burns	G	27	5-12	1-5	4-4	1	5	0	3	2	4	15
Christopher Mantis	F	25	2-5	2-4	2-2	0	4	0	0	1	1	8
A.J. Lopez	G	21	0-4	0-0	6-6	0	1	1	1	0	1	6
Isaac Bonilla	G	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Killian Gribben	F	16	1-5	0-1	0-0	1	2	0	0	1	0	2
Logan Carey	G	15	1-4	0-0	1-1	0	0	0	0	1	1	3
Keelan Steele	F	11	5-6	0-0	1-1	2	2	0	0	1	5	11
Ridvan Tutic	F	11	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Caleb Crawford	G	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Darius Lopes	G	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Milos Nenadic	F	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Amare Allen	F	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
John Shea	F	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total			21-57	3-14	17-18	7	27	4	9	14	19	62

Duke vs Maine: Game Summary

Duke and Maine went toe-to-toe in the opening minutes, scoring six points each in the first 3:45 of the game. Then, Kon Knueppel made his presence felt in the encounter, scoring 11 points, including a 4-point play that capped a 20-3 run to pad the Blue Devils' lead to 17, 26-9.

The Black Bears put up a fight in the middle part of the game, scoring nine straight points to cut the deficit to eight. Cooper Flagg, Sion James and Knueppel led another run that put the Blue Devils comfortably ahead at the half.

Maine chopped the lead to eight at the start of the second half following a Quion Burns' triple. But Duke stepped it up with a 16-3 rampage to hike the advantage to 21, 60-39.

The Blue Devils didn't allow the Black Bears to come closer and Newport, Maine native Flagg buried his home state further, knocking down six straight points to give Duke a 78-52 lead with 6:12 left.

Veteran guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster sparked a 16-2 blitz that gave the Blue Devils its biggest lead, 94-58.

Overall, Duke shot 55.6% from the field, including 37.3% from the 3-point line. Jon Scheyer and his men limited Maine to 36.8% shooting (21.4% from the 3-point line).

The Blue Devils dominated the rebounding battle (40-27), assists (17-4) and steals (10-9). Duke also ruled fastbreak points (18-9) and points in the paint (44-30).