Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils won their ninth straight game on Tuesday night, manhandling a 12-2 Pittsburgh Panthers team for a 76-47 victory, and the ESPN Basketball Power Index can deny the truth no longer.

The Blue Devils’ dominant defense was again on point against Pittsburgh, and freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel were active on offense.

The goal of any top-ranked college basketball team is, of course, to win a national championship, something Duke is well-equipped to do this season. However, it seems this year’s Blue Devils have enacted a separate goal — to impose their will on the rest of the ACC.

The Duke Blue Devils picked up their fifth Quad 1 win of the season on Tuesday night with a 76-47 blowout of the Pittsburgh Panthers, leaving the team from Durham second in the men's basketball NET rankings as of Wednesday morning.

Duke fans remember well what happened the last time the Panthers stepped inside Cameron Indoor, a sour 80-76 loss. Come Tuesday night, the Blue Devils will be out for revenge, and The Chronicle's beats are here to make their predictions for the contest.

But the fourth-ranked Blue Devils' defense has been the story of the season. Duke (13-2, 5-0 ACC) put the Panthers (12-3, 3-1) in a vice with another dominant defensive effort that pushed the Blue Devils' win streak to nine games as the top team in the ACC.

Star freshman and Maine native Cooper Flagg scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime — including a jaw-dropper of a coast-to-coast dunk — to help No. 4 Duke beat Pittsburgh 76-47 on Tuesday night. Fellow rookie Kon Knueppel had 17 points and made four 3-pointers for the Blue Devils (13-2,