Duke vs. Arizona score, takeaways: No. 12 Wildcats shock No. 2 Blue Devils, make statement with early road win

No. 12 Arizona upset No. 2 Duke 78-73 on Friday in the first marquee matchup of the 2023-24 college basketball season.

Former North Carolina guard Caleb Love knocked down a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left and had a steal on the Blue Devils’ attempt at a last shot to seal the win. Love finished with 11 points in his first game back at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where he also had a big game on March 5, 2022, scoring 22 points for the Tar Heels to spoil the final home game for former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, the last time the Blue Devils lost at home.

Arizona’s upset victory was the first defeat at home for Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who is in his second-year as coach of the Blue Devils (1-1) and gave Duke its first nonconference loss at home since a 83-68 loss to Illinois on Dec. 8, 2020. 

The Wildcats (2-0) led for a majority of the game before Duke rallied back late to take a 69-67 lead with 1:08 remaining off a Kyle Filipowski layup. Arizona forward Keshad Johnson scored an old-fashioned 3-point play on a layup with 47 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats the lead back for good. The Wildcats forward finished with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds.

Filipowski scored a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds while playing in foul trouble for a majority of the second half. 

The Blue Devils’ next game is against No. 4 Michigan State on Tuesday, while the Wildcats host Southern on Monday.

Arizona shows complete team effort in win

For the second time in two games, all five Arizona starters scored in double-figures. That stat may not seem like much considering how early it is in the season, but it speaks volumes on how the Wildcats plan to play this season.

They’re going to beat you with depth.

Love is the ultimate microwave player. Surely, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd knew this when he went out and recruited him from the transfer portal. He’s truly one of the double-edged sword players in the sport for his ability to be clutch down the stretch but simultaneously hurt you because of his bad shot selection and turnovers. Love turned it over a team high six times in the win.

The Wildcats don’t need Love to average 20 points per game to be successful. They have players like Oumar Ballo who’s the favorite to win Pac-12 Player of the Year and guards such as Pelle Larsson and Kylan Boswell who can be glue guys for a Final Four team. You also can’t forget about Johnson, the San Diego State transfer who was active on the defensive end and scored when it mattered. Arizona has arguably the toughest nonconference schedule in America. The win over the Blue Devils was by no means a fluke. It just solidifies what we already knew about the Wildcats — they’re going to beat you with elite depth.

Duke needs more from Tyrese Proctor

The Blue Devils are one of the more experienced teams in the country. They returned four starters from a team that won the ACC title and the new player joining the starting lineup is former five-star guard Jared McCain, who was the crown jewel of Duke’s 2023 recruiting class. 

In big games and big moments, they need experienced players such as Proctor to meet the moment. On Friday, he simply didn’t. 

Proctor returned to school to improve his NBA Draft stock. He’s an excellent facilitator and playing less off-ball suits his play style more. He finished with five assists and three turnovers and was fine (outside of the turnovers) in that department. His scoring was the concern. Proctor finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting and went 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Duke as a team shot 34.8% on 23 attempts. That mark will have to be better if the Blue Devils expect to beat elite teams such as Arizona this season. 

It’s very, very early. We are two games into a 35+ game season (for the good teams). Proctor will have plenty of time to prove himself going forward and he certainly isn’t the only one to blame. If the Blue Devils want to reach their ceiling of a national title contender, it starts with Proctor taking the leap most people assumed he would make in his second season.

More Top 25 games, please

Without sounding like a broken record from what CBS Sports Matt Norlander wrote earlier this week, college basketball needs more games like this, part of a home-and-home series — not games at a neutral site in front of a half-empty NBA arena and not an in-season tournament that’s located thousands of miles from where a school is located. Kudos to Scheyer and Lloyd for making it happen and their commitment to continue to do just that.

There’s nothing like a college home crowd because they can provide one of the biggest home field/court advantages in all of sports. Would this game have been interesting if it was played at a neutral site? Of course! Did it add to the intrigue that Love played in front of a packed hostile crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium after playing multiple games as a North Carolina Tar Heel? Absolutely. 

Résumés matter come March. The benefit college basketball has (as opposed to the current College Football Playoff format) is programs get rewarded with strong résumés and early season losses won’t keep you off the bubble. Despite both coaches being relatively new in running their respective program, they’re setting the standard for the rest of college basketball. 

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