Duke freshman sensation and likely No. 1 overall NBA pick Cooper Flagg dominated Arizona in a 100-93 Sweet 16 victory for the No. 1 seeded squad to eliminate the fourth-seeded Wildcats.
Flagg posted 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists, a steal and three blocks and was just about matched by Arizona fifth-year senior Caleb Love, who had 35 points.
Arizona managed to hang around in the game for the first half. The game was tied at 42 with under a minute to go in the period after a Love 3 for the Wildcats. From that point, Duke ripped off a 20-5 run to take total control of the game, with 15 of those 20 points being assisted or scored by Flagg.
The Blue Devils extended their lead to 19 shortly later, looking poised to cruise to a blowout win. But Arizona responded through Love to cut the deficit to seven at 7:47 to go.
The Wildcats, though, could not generate enough stops to get much closer. A Carter Bryant 3-pointer with 1:52 left got Arizona within five at a timeout, but a foul on Flagg off the ball followed by an Arizona miss sealed it.
The all-time record between the two schools now sits at 6-6, with Arizona losing both matchups this season.
Arizona now holds a 6-4 record in the NCAA Tournament under Tommy Lloyd. Over a four-year period, Lloyd has led the program to a No. 2 seed twice and a No. 1 seed before the four-seed placement this season. The Wildcats are now 112-33 under Lloyd.
What’s next for Arizona and Caleb Love?
Roster shakeups in the offseason for Arizona will most notably include the departure of Love after two seasons in Tucson leading the team. Oakland transfer Trey Townsend will also move on after five years of collegiate basketball while the NBA Draft will surely be calling to freshman Carter Bryant, a likely first-round pick. Sophomores K.J. Lewis and Henri Veesaar have varying degrees of interest in which they will likely at least test the waters.
The Wildcats received a big boost to their 2025-26 roster on Thursday with the commitment of five-star forward Koa Peat, a product of Perry High School. He joins forward Dwayne Aristode, a top-50 prospect, and four-star forward Bryce James, the younger son of LeBron James.
Duke faces second-seeded Alabama in the Elite Eight.