BOSTON — Duke freshman Cooper Flagg won’t be making it to Maine, so his fans trekked to Chestnut Hill on Saturday night to see the likely No. 1 draft pick play Boston College in his only game in New England this season.
Flagg had 28 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots to help the No. 3 Blue Devils beat BC 88-63 for their 12th win in a row in front of the Eagles’ first sellout crowd of the season, with many of the fans making the trip of three or more hours just to see him.
“This was my dream growing up, my entire life. To be in that position I’m in right now,” Flagg said afterward. “So, I’m just trying to enjoy it and just stay in the moment.”
Fans in Duke jerseys — many of them making the 215-mile drive from the Newport, Maine, environs — helped fill the Conte Forum for the first time this season. When the BC supporters filed out in the final minutes, the Dukies stuck around until the buzzer, giving Flagg — a Newport native — one last cheer when he left the court after the game.
“It’s huge, the level of support, just to get to see them show up and support me means a lot to me. Just gives me a lot of confidence,” Flagg said. “Being from Maine … when I was growing up, it’s easy to just not believe in yourself or just think you can’t do that. I just want to keep proving that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from. As long as you stick to it and keep working, you can make anything happen.”
Flagg said he grew up as a Boston sports fan, rooting for the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox because they were the closest pro teams to his hometown. On Friday night, Flagg and some of his teammates watched the Celtics — including ex-Blue Devil Jayson Tatum — beat the Magic. (Orlando’s Paolo Banchero also went to Duke.)
Duke’s only other scheduled trip up North is to play at Syracuse next month (though there is a March Madness regional final in Providence, Rhode Island). Flagg said he had been hearing from a lot of people back home that they would be making the trip; one television reporter told Flagg after Saturday’s contest he had interviewed fans who came from Maine’s Aroostook County, which borders the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.
“It was great for us just to be in that environment,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “What a special turnout. Look, this is as close as we’re going to get to Maine. We’ve been here a lot. The representation of Duke fans has always been great. This was, I think, the best I’ve ever seen it.
“And I think a lot of it has to do with Maine. So, that was a pretty special thing to see. And obviously, [Flagg] backed it up with his play.”
