NEWARK, N.J. — When asked about his signature March moment thus far — pulling up from well beyond the arc, then briefly letting the emotions fly when the ball went splash just before the halftime buzzer — Cooper Flagg first gave credit to Mason Gillis for securing the rebound.

And then …

“He hit me on a run,” Flagg said. “Just went up and made a shot.”

It was a matter-of-fact answer following a performance that was anything but. The Duke superstar displayed every bit of why he is the bona fide top-projected pick in June’s NBA draft, and why teams such as the 76ers have been tanking for weeks to increase their odds of landing such a tantalizing talent in May’s draft lottery.

Flagg finished with a dazzling 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three blocks in the top-seeded Blue Devils’ 100-93 Sweet 16 victory over Arizona Thursday night at the Prudential Center — and flashed the moxie for which coach Jon Scheyer has been waiting.

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“What I’ve wanted from him is not to defer,” Scheyer said. “I’ve just wanted him to fully be him, and I thought he was that. He was in his element tonight. He was ‘Him.’ He had just a great personality. He was loose, talking, competitive, the whole thing.

“So yeah, he impresses me all the time. But we need more of that on Saturday [against Alabama in the Elite Eight].”

Duke’s two other lottery prospects were also terrific in their first legitimate test of the tournament, when Arizona kept it close in the first half and then staged a late surge to slice a 19-point deficit to five.

In-command wing Kon Knueppel had 20 points on an efficient 5-of-7 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line — including his own “inflection-point” three just before Flagg’s highlight launch, along with four crunch-time foul shots — and added four rebounds and three assists. Imposing big man Khaman Maluach, after playing only nine first-half minutes because of foul trouble, had six rebounds and 13 points on 6 of 8 from the floor, primarily feasting on lob passes.

Both players likely would be in range for the Sixers if they keep their pick, which, because of a 2020 trade, would go to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it lands seventh or lower in the lottery. They entered Friday tied for the NBA’s fifth-worst record, at 23-50, with nine games remaining. That slot also comes with a 9.8% chance of landing the No. 1 selection.

And Flagg was the engine of what Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd called Duke’s offensive “machine.” Flagg is not the physical specimen like Victor Wembanyama and Zion Williamson, the two other NBA prospects who have shouldered the “generational talent” label in the past decade. But Flagg’s 6-foot-9, 205-pound frame, his anticipatory feel for the game, and his versatile skill set are head-shakingly impressive from an in-person, courtside view.

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Thursday’s master class began with a scoring flurry during the first half’s final seven-plus minutes. He cut baseline and finished underneath. He spun past and through defenders for two buckets. He assertively drove to the rim. When he hollered “Let’s [expletive] go, man!” on his way to the locker room, after glancing up at the clock and banging the deep trey, he suddenly had 18 points.

Then, Flagg’s deft playmaking opened Duke’s big lead. A nifty defense-splitting dribble move, before slinging the pass to James for a corner three-pointer to put Duke up, 56-44. Two lobs to Maluach for alley-oop flushes, including one where Flagg appeared he might lose his balance before celebrating the connection by sticking his tongue out and slapping his big man’s hand. Then another lofted pass, this time to backup center Patrick Ngongba, after pushing the ball all the way from the opposite end of the court.

“If he throws it, then I got to go get it,” Maluach said after the game. “That’s my job to go get it. … He doesn’t do anything that surprises me, because I knew he always had that in him, since he came to practice.

“He’s just getting better from time to time, and I still think he still has a lot more in him.”

Those moments are why Flagg was asked during Wednesday’s news conference about drawing outside comparisons to the legendary Larry Bird, to which Flagg acknowledged growing up watching “old videos” of the Hall of Famer and that “it gives me a lot of confidence, and it’s just a big compliment.”

Or why Knueppel, Flagg’s roommate, and Tyrese Proctor, the Blue Devils’ veteran sharpshooter, were asked to describe Flagg off the court in an effort to extract any new revelations about a player who has deservedly already attracted so much buzz.

“He kind of keeps to himself,” Knueppel said. “But he likes to joke around. He’s a good guy. He’s good to us even when he’s talking crap.”

“I mean, he’s just a kid,” Proctor added before chuckling. ” … No, he’s cool. He’s cool.”

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On the court, Flagg’s chemistry — and impact — with teammates is now well established as Duke makes its March charge.

Knueppel, who is also lauded for his savvy feel, said it is now “very natural” playing alongside Flagg, that “you always know what he’s going to do.”

Lloyd, who first faced Flagg during an early-season matchup against Duke, said his shooting “has gotten so much better” while orchestrating an offense that hit a blistering 60% of its field-goal attempts and 11 of 19 three-pointers Thursday. Those numbers might need to be replicated in order to knock off second-seeded Alabama, which buried an NCAA Tournament-record 25 three-pointers on 51 attempts in its rout of sixth-seeded BYU earlier Thursday.

“They come down, they have a plan,” Lloyd said of the Blue Devils. “They know what they want to get, and they’re able to get to it consistently. Which is hard to do. We’re not a bad defensive team, but they make you feel like it for long stretches today.”

With Arizona making its final push, Flagg flew in to obliterate a block into the baseline row of Wildcat cheerleaders. Then, he sank three out of four free throws in the final 1:33 to help the Blue Devils seal their victory. And around 1 a.m., Flagg was asked to pull back and reflect on why he chose Duke as an assumed pit stop on his path to the NBA, with the Blue Devils now on the verge of a Final Four.

“It’s just a credit to Coach Scheyer, the vision that he laid out for me,” Flagg said. “It just really felt like the right place with the right people.”

Another matter-of-fact answer, following a Sweet 16 performance that was anything but.