Blue Devils Shut Down George Mason, 68-47

Tuesday, December 17

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

9-2,1-0ACC

George Mason

7-4,0-0Atlantic 10

George Mason

Duke

Blue Devils Shut Down George Mason, 68-47

12/17/2024 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Quotes (PDF)Opponent Quotes (PDF)Coach Scheyer Presser Highlights Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 5 Duke prevailed in a matchup between two top-five defenses, as the Blue Devils defeated George Mason, 68-47, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. The two teams entered the contest boasting shooting-percentage defenses inside the top five nationally and Duke (9-2, 1-0 ACC) used a 43-point second half to earn the victory over the Patriots.

Freshman Cooper Flagg led all scorers, pouring in 24 points, and finished one rebound shy of a double-double while also logging team highs in assists (four) and steals (three) and adding one block. Sion James finished with a game-high +31 in 31 minutes, Khaman Maluach tallied six points and eight rebounds and Isaiah Evans poured in three three-pointers to help aid Duke's win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A three-pointer from Cooper Flagg opened the scoring on Duke's first offensive possession of the contest. Tyrese Proctor drilled his first shot from beyond the arc to give the Blue Devils an early six-point lead. A fast-break pullup jumper by Flagg forced a Patriots timeout with 15:57 on the clock.
Both defenses, ranked inside the top five nationally, held their opponents to scoring droughts before a Geore Mason layup pulled the Patriots within two, 8-6, after eight minutes of action. Sion James made a three-pointer to end Duke's scoreless stretch and put the Blue Devils in front 11-6, at the under-12 media timeout.
Duke's offense went on a stretch of 5-of-7 shooting from the field to expand its lead, 20-11, with 7:23 remaining in the first half. The Blue Devils were then held scoreless for over four minutes before two free throws from Flagg pushed Duke back in front by six, 22-16.
A layup through traffic by Kon Knueppel on the final possession of the half gave Duke its largest lead of the night so far, 25-16, after 20 minutes of play. Knueppel also opened the second-half scoring with a fast-break layup.
Flagg scored Duke's next six points, followed by assisting a Proctor three-pointer, pushing Duke's edge to 18, 36-16, forcing a George Mason timeout less than four minutes into the second stanza.
After the Blue Devils extended their advantage to 20 points, 40-20 – courtesy of a Maliq Brown dunk – the visitors responded with six quick points and Duke called timeout with 12:48 remaining in the game.
A Flagg dunk stopped an eight-point scoring run by the Patriots and inched the Blue Devils back in front by 14, 42-28, with less than nine minutes to play. Back-to-back three-pointers from Isaiah Evans moved the lead back to nearly 20, 50-32, as the clock ticked under six minutes to go.
Duke kept George Mason at arms length the remainder of the game, as Flagg moved past 20 points and Maluach connected on four free throws in the final minute to close out the 68-47 win.

NOTES

Tuesday night marked the fourth meeting between the Blue Devils and Patriots, with Duke now 4-0 in the series.
Duke is now 38-3 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the past three seasons under head coach Jon Scheyer, including a 7-0 home record this season.
Duke improved to 335-32 (.913) all-time inside Cameron Indoor Stadium when playing as a top-five team, and has now won 14 of its last 16 games played on Dec. 17, including six straight wins since 1984.
George Mason entered the game ranked third in the nation for field goal percentage defense (.354) and 15th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.273), while Duke ranked fifth nationally for field goal percentage defense (.362).
The Blue Devils outpaced the Patriots defensive benchmarks in overall field goal percentage (.375) and three-point percentage (.333), while holding George Mason to 20-of-68 (.294) from the field.
George Mason shot 2-of-17 (.118) from beyond the arc, the lowest opponent three-point percentage during the past three seasons under Scheyer.
The Blue Devils held George Mason to just 16 points in the first half, the second time that a Duke opponent has scored less than 20 points in the opening frame, joining Wofford's 14-point effort in the opening 20 minutes of play on Nov. 16.
The Patriots only scored 47 total points, marking the lowest output by George Mason since Feb. 20, 2022 (47 vs. Fordham).
Duke's defense limited the Patriots to just two fast-break points and have held nine of their foes to single-digit points in transition.
Cooper Flagg scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, finishing one carom shy of a double-double. Flagg scored 17 points in the second half, the most second-half points by any Blue Devils so far this season.
Flagg went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line and has connected on 13 consecutive from the charity stripe, dating back to the Louisville game on Dec. 8.
The eight makes from the free throw line matched the most made by a Duke player this season, joining his 8-for-12 showing against Auburn on Dec. 4.
The freshman also added team highs in assists (four) and steals (three) and blocked one shot.
Tyrese Proctor scored eight total points and shot 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. The junior has made at least two three-pointers in all but two of Duke's games this season.
Sion James ended the game with a +/- of +31 in a season-high 31 minutes of action.
Isaiah Evans shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc for his third game in the last four contests with at least three makes from deep, and is shooting 13-of-22 (.591) on three-pointers in that span.
Khaman Maluach led the team with two blocked shots, was second in rebounding with eight boards, and contributed six points and a steal.

QUOTES

"I thought it was a really good win for us. I have a ton of respect for Tony Skinn, George Mason, and their team. Coming in, they were 7-and-3. They lost two games that they either should have won or could have won. They're experienced, incredibly well-coached, and disciplined. We knew how tough they were on defense. And for us, having a week off, we've obviously worked on a lot. I thought we had good carryover. I think there's obviously a lot that we can do better. Khaman [Maluach] impacts the game in so many ways. Protecting the rim, had eight rebounds, guarding two really good big men. And I thought Sion [James] had such an impact on winning. He had a +31. And then throughout, I thought we made winning plays, and our defense really drove us. I loved Cooper [Flagg]'s aggressiveness. I thought Cooper was really aggressive, putting pressure on the defense. I think for many young guys, you get caught up in percentages and numbers sometimes. And for him, he was a warrior out there, with 24 [points], nine [rebounds], and four [assists]. I think that comes with his competitive spirit and being in attack mode. We need him that way. We have to help him be that way all the time." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"They're a really good team. They lost two games before us, both by a couple of points, so they've been in every game. It was a good win for us. They're an [NCAA] Tournament team, for sure." - Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor
"That was a great team, extremely physical, scrappy. They played really composed and with a lot of poise. It's a team that, if you're not careful and you don't come out with the right mindset, they can really jump on you. I thought we came out with a great mindset, a very defensive-based mindset, and I thought we did a great job." - Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg

UP NEXT

No. 5 Duke turns its attention to ACC play, traveling to Georgia Tech on Saturday, Dec. 21. Tipoff inside McCamish Pavilion is scheduled for 12 noon and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network.

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