A proud moment for the Duke women as they went on to win their 16th consecutive game against arch rivals UNC (72-68) must have felt even sweeter as Duke legend Cooper Flagg watched from the stands. But one of the most important facets oif the game that came out to the fore was not just the narrow margin of victory that we are not accustomed to from Duke, but UNC’s zero free throws which is only the third time this century an ACC team has not attempted a free throw in a game.

Ashlon Jackson and Taina Mair scored 14 points each on their senior day, and No. 11 Duke edged No. 21 North Carolina 72-68 on Sunday. The entire game was a back-and-forth affair, and after the end of the first half, Duke led 41-33 at halftime and from there never looked back.

With 30 seconds to spare in the closing quarters of the game and a two-point deficit to overcome, 56-54, the Tar Heels couldn’t get any closer, and Duke sealed the deal. Delaney Thomas’ layup made it a six-point game with 30 seconds remaining. Nyla Brooks hit a 3-pointer for North Carolina with 15 seconds left, but Jackson added a free throw for the final margin.

Ciera Toomey was the top scorer for North Carolina with 14 points, and Nyla Brooks and Nyla Harris both scored 10 points each, but what stood out was the Tar Heels’ zero attempts at free throws as Duke’s disciplined defense didn’t allow the Tar Heels to get any such rewards.

Duke’s clean defense, avoiding fouls on shot attempts, made it certain that flagrant foul calls wouldn’t be called against them. As the Tar Heels were more focused on perimeter shooting and mid-range jumpers rather than attacking the rim aggressively, the referees didn’t have much to do as jump shots seldom trigger fouls.

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Even the jumpshots didn’t have much mileage, as the entire team only salvaged 35% in their 3-point shots. Moreover, the referee acknowledged Duke’s contest as legal, allowing the game to flow, which pretty much took away the foul aspect from the game.

And seeing ten Tar Heels players get on the court and not win a single free throw was something nobody expected the slightest. Probably not even Cooper Flagg, who has now found himself in the good books of another basketball superstar and a legendary teammate.

Kyrie Irving Sees Cooper Flagg Chase History

Kyrie Irving might not yet have had the opportunity to share the court with Cooper Flagg but the Dallas Mavericks veteran has already praised his younger teammate and believes that the teenager is well on his way to creating new records of his own.

“Cooper is just an amazing player, and that’s not even just gassing it. At 19 years old, doing the things that he’s doing within our league is very special… I don’t want to mince my words either. He’s doing things that some of the greats, even before him, didn’t do. He’s chasing history,” said Irving as he spoke to the Dallas Hoops Journal.

Well, at the rate Cooper Flagg is going, chasing history doesn’t seem like an exaggerated claim in any way. His rookie season bears testament to that. Apart from the great LeBron James himself, he’s the only player to score 35 points in a game at age 18, and he was also the youngest player in history to do so.

But if you thought 35 was his ceiling, his game against the Charlotte Hornets blasted through the roof as he scored 49 points but had to settle for watching his team lose by two points. Flagg has already added some big names to his “fanboy” list, so to speak, as Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry have all given him their due respect after coming across him.

So the Rookie of the Year Award already has a name on it, it seems, and it belongs to a guy hailing from Newport.