In his first true road game as a collegiate player Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg led No. 12 Duke to a 69-55 victory Friday at No. 17 Arizona in one of the premier nonconference games of the 2024-25 college basketball season. Flagg finished with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists vs. the Wildcats.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 34-27 halftime advantage and held off a late rally from Arizona to improve to 4-1 on the season. The Blue Devils’ lone loss came earlier this month to Kentucky in the Champions Classic. Duke has since won two straight ahead of its biggest game of the season against No. 1 Kansas next week.

Flagg played a career-high 38 minutes in the win over Arizona.

Meeting the hype and expectations will be a tall task for a young player like Flagg. But even though he’s just 17 to begin the 2024-25 season, he is believed to be the rare talent capable of meeting the overused “generational” label. We’ll be tracking his progress he...