Kentucky basketball dealt Duke an early-season loss. Jon Scheyer and Cooper Flagg explain.

Duke basketball has suffered an early-season setback at the hands of Kentucky.

The No. 6-ranked Blue Devils lost to the No. 19-ranked Wildcats, 77-72, on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic.

Duke led for more than 27 minutes, and by as many as 10 points late in the first half, but it couldn’t shake the Wildcats.

Star freshman Cooper Flagg had his best performance in a college game to date — a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double — but he also had two critical late-game turnovers.

Duke shot just 4-for-23 (17.4%) from 3-point range, and key players Sion James and Khaman Maluach both had to leave the floor due to injuries suffered during the game.

Afterward, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and Flagg met with media members. Here’s everything they said:

Opening statement.

Jon Scheyer: This is a big-time college basketball game. Incredibly proud of our team. I thought we came out, played a great first half, really competed at a high level.

One, give Kentucky credit for the plays they’ve made. I think they showed incredible maturity, and their experience came out in that second half, no question.

For us it’s disappointing because you’re winning for 27 minutes, and our guys competed, and they played hard. This guy to my right at 17 years old, what he does and how he competes and how he shows up, I couldn’t be more proud of him. I could not be more proud of him, coaching this guy, man.

We’ve got a long season to go. I feel more optimistic tonight losing than I did even before because you find out in this game the character of your team, the heart that they have, and this team’s got a lot of heart. We’re missing Khaman — I think we were up nine when Khaman started cramping in the first half. Sion, too. There was a huge sequence for us Sion got injured and they hit a 3. It was a double whammy.

They kept coming at us, making shots, and we had an answer. We just kept answering. Came down to one more play, and give them credit, tip your hat to them.

For us, we’re going to grow and learn from this. I promise you that. We’ve got a locker room full of guys that are disappointed, heartbroken. I’m with them. And we’re going to get better.

Question about Duke’s play call and strategy following their final timeout.

Jon Scheyer: Well, the ball in his hands. They knew that was happening too, and I’m OK with that. We’re going to be in these moments a lot together, and I trust his instincts. I probably could have put him in a better position, to be honest.

But he’s got to touch it and trust that good things are going to happen. I wish you could say that every time it’s going to work out, and that’s not reality. I’m just so proud of him. Again, what he did in that game — he willed us in that game. He willed us. Especially down the stretch, to have 12 rebounds. Again, 26. He’d tell you he’s got more in him too. Again, I want him to touch it down the stretch.

Question about what Jon Scheyer thought about the play of UK fifth-year forward Andrew Carr.

Jon Scheyer: He made some big plays. Yeah, Andrew’s a good player. We’ve competed against him for a couple of years. He had the two and-one finishes. He’s capable from 3. Those are two big plays, the finishes down the stretch. Give him credit. He’s got good size and does a good job inside. But that’s where the details matter, and we’re going to grow from that.

Question about changed for Duke from the first to the second half.

Cooper Flagg: I think we could have got a little stagnant at times. I think a lot of it was defense. It was a lot of miscommunications on defense that led to some easy stuff for them.

Transition offense is a lot easier than playing in half-court the whole half, so I think we kind of slowed it down a little bit and that could play into that.

Question about if Cooper Flagg felt fatigue during the second half after suffering from cramps late in games earlier this season.

Cooper Flagg: I wish I could say I didn’t. I felt a little bit and tried to fight through it the best I could.

Question about Duke putting the ball in Cooper Flagg’s hands during crunch time.

Cooper Flagg: Coach trusted me to go and make a play, like he said it didn’t work out. I’m glad he had that trust in me to put the ball in my hands. I’m looking for it in that moment. It didn’t work out, but I’m still going to look for it no matter what.

Jon Scheyer: It worked out basically every other time throughout the game to put us in that position.

Question about what Cooper Flagg learned from this game.

Cooper Flagg: Yeah, it was definitely a big experience. We started three freshmen. I know me, Kon, and Khaman learned a lot from tonight. Playing some big minutes. It was definitely a big learning experience for us.

It was just basketball. We came out, and we competed. A bunch of plays we can clean up on and get better at, but at the end of the day, it’s just basketball.

Question about what Jon Scheyer knew about Mark Pope before the game, and what he learned about a Mark Pope basketball team during the game.

Jon Scheyer: Honestly, nothing different. A ton of respect for him and them. Their offense has been impressive watching on film.

I thought our guys in the first half did a really good job, and they just kept coming at us. A lot of credit to him, his team. They executed really well down the stretch, really well. I think that’s where that experience for them really paid off. They shared it. They were patient. Give them all the credit in the world, all the credit.

Question about if Cooper Flagg slipped on the final possession.

Cooper Flagg: I mean, I could have. It was definitely wet once I slipped or whatever happened. I kind of lost the ball at first, and then I might have slipped. Whatever happened, that’s not an excuse. Just kind of move forward.

Question to Jon Scheyer about how — drawing from his personal experiences — he’s seen Mark Pope handle following a coaching legend at Kentucky.

Jon Scheyer: It’s not for me to say. He’s been a head coach for a long time. He’s done a great job. Obviously any time you’re a head coach at Duke or Kentucky, that means a lot to a lot of people.

College basketball is at its best when those two programs are really good, and I’m not surprised, the way the game went tonight in terms of it being a really back and forth and a high level basketball game. Obviously he’s doing a really good job.

Question about Sion James’ injury and Khaman Maluach’s cramping issues.

Jon Scheyer: Look, it’s concerning. I think part of it is we have young bodies. I think that’s part of it, where we’ve got to help these guys. Again, we’re not trying to just dip our toes in the water. We need Cooper to play a lot and Khaman.

I thought the way he impacted the game tonight, besides the 10 and 7, just his presence on the floor. You could see guys on their team just looking to see where he’s at. So obviously that’s something we’ve got to take a hard look at.

As far as Sion goes, I don’t know his status. He took a hard hit on that screen, a hard hit. We’ll get him back and get him evaluated and sigh. Obviously those two guys are really important to us.

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