Arizona Men’s Basketball falls to Duke in Sweet 16 | Arizona Wildcats

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – Arizona Men’s Basketball ran out of time as they fell to Duke University 100-93 in Sweet 16 match up on Thursday March 27, in Newark New Jersey. 

After leading by six at the half, Duke quickly extended its lead to double digits in the second. The Blue Devils led by as many 19 points, but Arizona battled back behind Love. He  scored 15 straight points for the Cats, part of a 20-8 run to cut Duke’s lead down to seven. Love finished with a team-high 35 points on the night. 

Arizona jumped out to a 13-10 lead behind efficient shooting. The Wildcats made six of their first nine shots, including 3-3 from deep. Anthony Dell’Orso knocked down a pair of triples early. 

After that start, Arizona missed its next eight shots. Duke went on an 11-0 run to lead 23-16. Caleb Love snapped the Wildcats’ scoring drought with a three. It was his first points of the game after going 0-3 in the first 11:32 of the game. 

The Cats clawed back into the game despite dealing with foul trouble. Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka and KJ Lewis each had two fouls in the first half. Love made a triple with :46 seconds left to tie the game at 42. 

Duke made back-to-back triples before the break, including one from Cooper Flagg at the buzzer. The Blue Devils led 48-42 at the half. 

In the second half the Wildcats came out slow but continued to battle as they tried to answer the high powered Duke offence. 

The Wildcat did force multiple Duke players into foul trouble including making Patrick Ngongba foul out. Arizona, however continued to have foul trouble of its own. Lewis fouled out of the game for the Wildcats in the final four minutes.

Love was not the only player to reach the 30 point mark on the night, Flagg recorded 30 points 6 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Blue Devils. Three other Blue Devils also make it into double digits with Khaman Maluach also registering four blocks for the team.

Arizona did end the game with its least amount of turnovers in the NCAA Tournament with only six in the game. Unfortunately that was one of the few areas Arizona was better than Duke on the night. Duke beat the Wildcats in almost every other stat shooting 60 percent on field goals and 58 percent from the 3-point line.