Freshman phenom Cooper Flagg scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to help No. 9 Duke to an 84-78 win over visiting No. 2 Auburn in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Wednesday in Durham, North Carolina.

Flagg also grabbed 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (6-2), who won their second straight game despite trailing by 11 in the opening minutes. Isaiah Evans added 18 points for Duke, while Tyrese Proctor contributed 12 and Caleb Foster 11.

Johni Broome had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Auburn (7-1), which tied a season high in points. Tahaad Pettiford also scored 20 points for the Tigers, followed by Chad Baker-Mazara’s 17. Miles Kelly added 14 points and three steals.

With a lead of seven at halftime, Duke extended its lead to 50-38 on Khaman Maluach’s basket with 18:23 left.

Later in the half, Broome scored five straight points for Auburn, including his dunk, to cut the deficit to four with 11:06 left.

After Flagg’s three-point play later extended Duke’s lead back to seven, Pettiford hit a layup and Kelly hit a three-pointer to pull Auburn within two points with 7:40 left.

With the lead still at two points moments later, Proctor beat the shot clock with a three-pointer, giving Duke a 73-68 lead at 4:31.

Still leading by five points, Duke extended its lead to 79-72 following a Kon Knueppel layup with 59 seconds left, which was only its second field goal of the game.

Auburn got off to a fast start as Kelly’s consecutive 3-pointers gave the Tigers an early 13-2 lead. Duke scored six straight points, but Baker-Mazara knocked down a jumper to give Auburn a 15-8 lead.

Trailing 16-10, the Blue Devils got a spark from Evans, who drained the first of six triples with 11:04 left in the half.

Later, after Kelly’s 3-pointer that extended Auburn’s lead to 22-15, Evans hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the Tigers’ lead to one. Evans’ 3-pointer gave Duke its first lead at 26-24 with 6:27 left. Flagg’s subsequent free throws and Brown’s putback layup increased Duke’s lead to 30-24.

Baker-Mazara’s pullup triple cut Duke’s lead to one with 2:16 left before Foster and Evans closed the first half with three-pointers, giving the Blue Devils a 43-36 halftime lead.

–Field level media