NEWARK, N.J. — The scoop pass found Cooper Flagg’s hands, and Duke’s freshman superstar immediately stole a glance up at the rapidly expiring clock. Four seconds, three …

Just enough time.

With the first half of Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup against Arizona almost over, Flagg sliced straight down the center of the Prudential Center court and got as far as he could: just to the fringe of the mid-court March Madness logo. Good enough. With his left heel still touching the logo, Flagg let it rip, leaned his head a little to track the trajectory of his would-be buzzer-beater — and then turned in jubilation as the ball dropped through the net, giving Duke a much-needed six-point halftime cushion.

“Let’s f—ing go, man!” he screamed, echoing the sentiment of Blue Devils fans everywhere.

There are plenty to choose from, but it’s hard to find a better sequence to describe Flagg’s sensational Sweet 16 effort, which eventually led Duke past Arizona 100-93 and into the Elite Eight for the second straight season. For as good as Flagg has been all season — winning national player of the year was not an accident — and even thus far in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday night was his true breakout postseason performance: 30 points on nine-of-19 shooting, seven assists, six rebounds, three blocks and one steal.

Without the 6-foot-9 forward’s dominance, there’s no telling whether No. 1 Duke would’ve survived No. 4 Arizona’s scorching offense.

But it sure is nice to have the best player in the country, isn’t it? The Blue Devils will meet No. 2-seeded Alabama on Saturday.

And while Flagg had help later on — especially in the second half, when Duke started nine-for-nine and escaped its first-half foul trouble — Jon Scheyer’s team never would’ve been in position to win in the first place without the soon-to-be No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

That was especially true considering old rival Caleb Love saved his best for last, in his 10th career meeting against the Blue Devils. His 3 to beat Duke in the 2022 Final Four remains one of the greatest shots in college basketball history. But Thursday, after Duke led by as many as 19 points midway through the second half, the former North Carolina star turned into a shooting supernova, scoring a season-high 35 points and draining five triples to get things as close as five points in the final minutes. But ultimately, Love’s singular effort — only two other Wildcats scored in double figures — wasn’t enough to overcome Duke’s depth, despite the Blue Devils game-long foul trouble.

About that, though. Early on, it looked like officiating might be the story of the game, should the Blue Devils become the first No. 1 seed to fall. Both Scheyer and Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, scrambling for solutions, had to go much deeper into their benches than normal. In Arizona’s case, two apiece on guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis forced Lloyd to play backup guard Conrad Martinez — who had played six total postseason minutes entering Thursday — and otherwise lean heavily on Love, whose 14 first-half points carried the Wildcats.

As for Duke, the issue was with every member of the Blue Devils’ frontcourt. Starting center Khaman Maluach picked up two personals less than nine minutes into the game, forcing reserve Patrick Ngongba to see more minutes than he normally would … until Ngongba also started getting whistled, winding up with three first-half fouls of his own. That left Scheyer no choice but to break glass in case of emergency, and play forward Maliq Brown — who re-dislocated his left shoulder on March 13 and hadn’t played since — for four pivotal minutes before the break. Brown recorded one rebound and one assist in that stretch, which may seem inconsequential, but his positional size prevented the wheels from falling off for Scheyer’s young Blue Devils.

And while a 14-5 Duke run after halftime seemed to erase any semblance that this would wind up a close contest, that foul trouble once again reared its head late. Ngongba fouled out — despite playing only 12 minutes — with 5:50 left to play and Duke up 11, forcing the Blue Devils to claw for everything down the final stretch. In fact, Scheyer’s squad wound up not making a single basket over the last four minutes. The game got as close as five with 1:52 to play, after Arizona freshman Carter Bryant hit a corner 3 over Flagg’s outstretched arm. Arizona promptly called timeout to set up its defense — only for Lewis to shove Flagg, pick up his fifth and final foul and send Flagg back to the free-throw line. Flagg calmly drained both, pushing the margin back to seven.

Which, ultimately, was all the cushion Duke needed.

Just enough for the Blue Devils to dance another day.

 (Photo of Cooper Flagg: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)