Since losing to Kansas during Thanksgiving week in Las Vegas, Duke has been a different team. The Blue Devils have won their last eight games and star freshman Cooper Flagg has been the leading scorer in five of them.

Cooper Flagg and the Duke men’s basketball team have been rolling into the new year. The No. 4 Blue Devils (12-2) have won eight straight after sinking ACC opponents Virginia Tech and Southern Methodist University. Conference play continues this week, with matchups against Pittsburgh and Notre Dame on tap.

But it just seems like what Cooper Flagg is doing at Duke should be a bigger story than it is. Do you agree? Yes, I understand that Flagg entered college with an unusual amount of hype that's even led to a "Cooper Flagg Tracker" here at CBSSports.

Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel each had 14 points for the Blue Devils, which had a 42-24 advantage in points in the paint.

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg pumped in 24 points as the No. 4 Blue Devils defeated SMU 89-62 without their coach on Saturday afternoon at Dallas. Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor

The projected No. 1 overall draft pick has been as close to flawless as anyone could ever expect from a Duke basketball freshman.

Thanks to a pair of 24-point performances against Virginia Tech and SMU last week, Duke freshman Cooper Flagg swept the ACC Player of the Week and ACC Rookie of the Week awards for the second time on Monday.