No. 12 Arizona Basketball stuns No. 2 Duke in Durham

DURHAM, NC – Returning to action against No. 2 Duke (1-1), No. 12 Arizona Basketball (2-0) was ready for the challenge, knocking off the host Blue Devils, 78-73. 

It was the marquee college basketball matchup of the night, and boy it did not disappoint as No. 12 Arizona Basketball took on No. 2 Duke in a furious battle.

Traveling to a hostile and rowdy environment in Durham, NC, Arizona had to endure significant travel as well as a passionate home crowd if they were going to win this one. And luckily, the Wildcats seemed unfazed in this one.

Scoring 78 points on 46.2 percent shooting from the field including 6-17 (35.3) from three, the Wildcats stunned the host Blue Devils by a 78-73 final!

All five of Arizona’s starters finished in double-figures on the evening with Kesahd Johnson leading the way with 14 points, meanwhile, Caleb Love added with 11 points, going a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe as he helped the Wildcats ice the game.

Freshmen Motiejus Krivas and KJ Lewis added with six points each off the bench, respectively.

Jumping out to an eight-point halftime lead, No. 12 Arizona Basketball weathered No. 2 Duke’s push to come away with the narrow, 78-73 win!

Facing a tough test so early in the season, the Wildcats seemed unfazed by the competition in this one as they traveled to No. 2 Duke. Jumping out to an early, 21-16 lead with 7:56 to play, Arizona was ready for a battle.

Unfortunately, Duke wouldn’t go away quietly in this one. Battling back and forth for much of the first half, the Blue Devils would respond with a 9-2 run to take the lead at 25-23.

Luckily, Arizona would have a response of its own. Regaining the lead at 26-25, the Wildcats would continue to push, eventually growing its lead to 36-30 before eventually closing out the half by outscoring Duke 5-3 over the 2:25 to play.

Arizona would even get a nice little jolt of momentum heading into the half when Caleb Love corralled a rebound off of a missed free throw and raced down the court in roughly four seconds as he launched a long three that beat the buzzer and went in, giving the Wildcats a 41-33 lead!

Even with Arizona having a little breathing room entering the second half; however, this one would be back-and-forth to close out the game.

Despite maintaining its eight-point lead at 48-40, unfortunately, Duke would begin to find its rhythm in the second half, responding with a 14-4 run to take the lead at 54-52.

Stilling battling, Arizona would respond in kind, regaining the lead at 57-54 after Kylan Boswell hit a clutch three with 10:34 to play.

Continuing to seemingly trade buckets in the first half, Arizona would continue to lead for most of the second half, but unfortunately, Duke would regain control at 67-65 with 2:11 to play after a made three from Jeremy Roach.

Not going away, Arizona battled, eventually regaining the lead for good at 70-69 when Keshad Johnson converted on a clutch and-one layup over Duke’s Kyle Filipowski.

With 47 seconds to go, this one would turn into a free-throw competition as the Wildcats would eventually inch their way closer to a tough road win.

Leading 76-73, Duke would have one last chance to respond but an errant pass from Duke’s Ryan Young was tipped by Pelle Larsson, and corralled by Love who passed it off to freshman KJ Lewis who finished with an emphatic flush as time expired to put the exclamation point on this one!

Arizona would stun No. 2 Duke at home by a 78-73 final!

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-0 on the young season and will resume basketball action on Monday against Southern University. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for 6:00 PM MST!

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