Cooper Flagg, No. 3 Duke Too Much for Cal at Cameron Indoor

The best defensive team in the Atlantic Coast Conference squared off against the league’s poorest-shooting team on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the outcome was predictable.

Cal, ranked last in the ACC in field-goal accuracy, shot just 35 percent and No. 3 Duke rolled to a 78-57 victory.

Freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson led Cal with 21 points, including 4 for 7 from 3-point range. Wilkinson, averaging 20.0 points over the past seven games, scored 15 of his 21 in the second half, when he made 6 of 8 shots.

“Jeremiah Wilkinson has been absolutely outstanding,” Cal coach Mark Madsen said. “Now that he’s starting, he’s getting more and more confidence every day, at multiple positions. He played the point guard a lot tonight and he did a nice job of getting us into offense and creating a rhythm for himself and others.”

Duke has a pretty good freshman of its own, and Cooper Flagg had 27 points, including a steal and breakaway reverse dunk, and the ACC-leading Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1) remained unbeaten in 14 home games. It was the 13th 20-point game of the season for the 6-foot-9 Flagg, regarded as the likely No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA draft.

“They have the No. 1 player in the draft out there. We threw different looks at him, we tried to be physical with him, he went for 27," Madsen said. "We’ve got to find a way to slow a guy like that down. I’ll tell you this: He had to work for every point he got.”

Flagg shot 8 for 14, made 2 of 4 from 3-point distance and converted all nine of his free throws. He also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

COOPER FLAGG TOOK FLIGHT 😈🔥@DukeMBB | #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/PP4GKWoSGz
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) February 13, 2025

Cal (12-13, 5-9) shot 29 percent in the first half, trailed by 13 points at the break and simply could not generate enough offense to stay with a team that leads the ACC in scoring defense and field-goal defense.

The Blue Devils, coming off a loss to Clemson, led by as many as 26 points. Tyrese Proctor added 18 points for the hosts.

Madsen said the Bears had chances. “What I told the guys in the locker room (is) we’re a few defensive sequences away, got to make a couple of the open 3’s and we’re going to be able to beat a team like Duke on their home floor," he said.

Perhaps, but the Bears didn't generate enouh offense to stay with Duke. Andrej Stojakovic added 10 points, but managed just two in the second half. Rytis Petraitis scored 11 for the Bears.

Cal, which needs one more victory to match its season total from a year ago, play Saturday at 1 p.m. PT at Georgia Tech (12-13, 6-8), which beat Stanford 60-52 on Wednesday.

The Bears, who played at Cameron Indoor for the first time ever, haven’t beaten Duke since Jason Kidd triggered an 82-77 upset of the two-time defending national champions in the 1993 NCAA tournament. Duke leads the overall series 3-2.

Flagg scored 13 first-half points and the Blue Devils had control at intermission, leading 38-23.

Cal made just 8 of 28 shots in the half and only 3 of 12 attempts from the 3-point arc. Duke shot 43 percent (13 for 30) and was on target for 6 of 8 from deep, getting 3-pointers from five different players in the opening period.

Stojakovic had eight points at the half to lead the Bears but continued to struggle shooting the 3-pointer. After missing his two attempts, he is 1 for 18 from deep over the past six games.