If there was one thing you could count on with Arizona, under Tommy Lloyd, was that it always followed up a tough loss with a solid win. But nothing lasts forever.
No. 17 Arizona fell 69-55 to No. 12 Duke on Friday night at McKale Center, its second consecutive loss to mark the first time under Lloyd it has lost back-to-back games. The Wildcats hadn’t dropped two in a row since the 2020-21 season, when Sean Miller was coach.
Arizona (2-2) was never able to get its potent offense into any sort of flow, shooting 39.6 percent from the field and 26.1 from 3-point range and going two-plus minutes without a field goal on at least four occasions. The Wildcats were outrebounded by 13 and also turned it over 15 times, leading to 19 points for Duke.
Jaden Bradley led the UA with 18 points, with KJ Lewis adding 12. Caleb Love had eight on 3-of-13 shooting, including 1 of 9 from 3.
The Blue Devils (4-1) avenged last year’s home loss to Arizona thanks to 22 points from freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, with 14 coming in the second half. Duke shot 42.6 percent, making 9 of 25 3s, and limited Arizona to six offensive rebounds after it had 65 over the first three games.
The Wildcats, who came in with a ridiculous 50 percent offensive rebound rate, went almost 12 minutes into the game before getting an offensive board, finishing with eight second-chance points.
Duke led 34-27 at halftime, making its last four shots in the first half while keeping Arizona scoreless the final 2:55. The 27 points were Arizona’s fewest at halftime since having 26 against UCLA in a 58-52 home win in January 2023.
The UA scored the first four after the half and had a chance to get closer but then had another scoring drought, enabling Duke to go on an 8-0 run to lead 42-31 with 15:33 left. It was another minute before the Wildcats would score, on a transition layup by Bradley, but he had to briefly come out after grabbing the back of his right calf.
A driving dunk by Flagg put Duke up 46-33 with 12:27 left, forcing Lloyd to call timeout. And whatever he said sparked something in Arizona’s offensive approach, as it scored on four of the next six possessions to get within 50-43 on a KJ Lewis drive with 8:48.
Lewis was called for a technical after the basket, though, and while Tyrese Proctor missed both foul shots Flagg hit a 3 on the ensuing possession to get it back to a 10-point Duke lead.
Bradley’s scoop got the Wildcats within 54-48 only to see Duke’s Kon Knueppel drain a pair of 3s to get the margin back to 61-49 with 3:49 left.
Arizona would make only one field goal over the final 5:39.
The refs were letting them play early, with only one foul called before the under-16 media timeout … which came with 12:57 left in the first half and Duke up 13-12. The game’s first free throw didn’t come until 9:06 left before halftime, with Arizona not getting to the line until 6:20 remained in the first half.
The physical play benefitted Duke early, as it led 24-18 by scoring inside and out while Arizona was settling for too many 3s and missing nine straight after Bradley hit a pair in the first three minutes. The Wildcats had a scoring drought of more than five minutes but then hit six of nine shots to get within 28-27 with 2:55 left on a Carter Bryant 3.
Arizona hits the road next week, playing three games in three days at the Battle4Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas. The Wildcats open Wednesday against Davidson.
