After earlier losses to Kentucky and Kansas, No. 9 Duke now has its massive nonconference win.

Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils defeated No. 2 Auburn 84-78 in Wednesday's SEC/ACC Men's Challenge showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke improved to 6-2 with the victory, while the 7-1 Tigers suffered their first defeat of the campaign after earlier wins over Houston, Iowa State and North Carolina.

Flagg looked the part of potential No. 1 overall draft pick and stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Even though his outside shot wasn't clicking, it was a performance that underscored just what type of impact he can have on a game against elite competition.

It wasn't a one-man show, as Isaiah Evans went 6-of-8 from deep on his way to 18 points. His early contributions helped counter impressive games from Johni Broome (20 points and 12 rebounds) and Tahaad Pettiford (20 points) for the Tigers.

But it was Flagg who drew plenty of love from social media:

The SEC has dominated the Challenge this year, and it seemed like it would be more of the same Wednesday when Auburn jumped out to a 13-2 advantage in the first four minutes.

Evans had other ideas.

While Flagg is the headliner freshman on Duke's roster, Evans was the first-year player who provided a much-needed spark for the home team in the first half. He drilled six three-pointers off the bench before intermission, which sent the Cameron Crazies into a frenzy and gave the Blue Devils a seven-point halftime lead.

Evans was a 5-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings, but he appeared in just four of the team's first seven games and scored in double figures just once. Yet he introduced himself to the nation Wednesday and gave his team all the momentum heading into the second half.

It parlayed that into its own double-digit advantage when Flagg started to find his scoring touch after halftime.

Flagg's scoring was an important development for Duke since he struggled with his shot for extended stretches, but he still found a way to impact the game in other ways with his rebounding, defense and facilitating when Auburn sent additional attention his way.

To the Tigers' credit, they didn't fold and instead started cutting into the lead by dialing up the defensive pressure and going down low to Broome.

Duke had to pick its poison at times, as Pettiford's outside shooting also helped the SEC representatives stay within striking distance heading into crunch time. But one of the biggest outside shots of the game came from Tyrese Proctor after Auburn cut the lead to two.

Proctor grabbed a loose ball and drilled a three from well beyond the arc to keep the challengers at bay before he hit a clutch turnaround to push the lead back to seven with just more than three minutes remaining.

Auburn didn't have any answers in the closing stretch after that, and Duke put the finishing touches on the win before an important road game at Louisville on Sunday.