By Bob Sutton
The Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. — Cooper Flagg scored 27 points and No. 3 Duke extended its home winning streak to 14 games with a 78-57 victory over Cal on Wednesday night.
Tyrese Proctor scored 18 points and Khaman Maluach added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rebounded from Saturday’s loss to Clemson that snapped a 16-game winning streak.
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 21 points, Rytis Petraitis added 11 points and Andrej Stojakovic 10 points for the Golden Bears (12-13, 5-9).
Flagg shot 8 for 14 from the field and was perfect on nine free throws for Duke, which led 19-9 less than 9½ minutes in the game. Flagg scored 13 points in the first half, helping the Blue Devils to a 38-23 lead at the break.
Takeaways
California: The Golden Bears have lost four of their last five games. They were in danger of a season-low point total until scoring 15 points in a five-plus minute stretch late in the game.
Duke: The ACC-leading Blue Devils were having fun again while extending their home unbeaten streak. Flagg converted a breakaway reverse dunk midway through the second half, cracking a rare on-court smile afterward.
Key moment
Back-to-back possessions with 3-pointers from 7-foot-2 center Maluach and Flagg pushed Duke to a 28-15 lead. The margin never dipped to single digits the rest of the way. It was just Maluach’s second 3-point basket and eighth attempt from beyond the arc this season.
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Key stat
California shot 35.1% from the field, below the ACC-low of 38.5% that Duke had allowed opponents entering the game.
Up next
Both teams play Saturday. Duke is home against Stanford, and Cal is at Georgia Tech.
