No. 12 Duke Picks up Road Win at No. 17 Arizona, 69-55

TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 12 Duke picked up a road win, 69-55, over No. 17 Arizona on Friday, Nov. 22. Cooper Flagg scored a game-high 24 points while playing 38 minutes. Kon Knueppel also reached double-figures, scoring 13 points and adding a game-high seven rebounds. Maliq Brown joined Knueppel with seven caroms and Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils with four assists.

Duke out-rebounded Arizona, 43-30, and finished with a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass. The Wildcats entered Friday night as the national leader in rebounding margin, while averaging 51.3 total rebounds and 21.7 offensive boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Arizona scored the first five points of the contest before a Khaman Maluach put-back layup gave Duke its first points of the night. Cooper Flagg scored five quick points to tie the score at seven with 17:24 on the clock. Back-to-back three-pointers from Tyrese Proctor gave the Blue Devils their first lead, 13-10, shortly before the first media timeout of the game.
• Duke’s defense held Arizona without a point for over five minutes and held a 15-14 advantage as the first half reached its halfway mark. A three-point-play by Maluach gave the freshman five points and Duke a five-point lead, 21-16.
• Maliq Brown snapped a three-minute scoring drought and helped Duke maintain its lead, 26-22. The two teams traded baskets as halftime approached but the Blue Devils ended the half on a 6-0 scoring run and took its largest lead of the game, 34-27, into the locker room.
• The Wildcats opened the second half with the first two baskets and pulled within three, 34-31. Duke scored the next five points, with Flagg reaching double-figures after a layup and Caleb Foster adding a three-pointer on Duke’s next trip down the floor. Kon Knueppel drilled a three-pointer of his own to push the Blue Devils lead to double-digits, 42-31, at the first media timeout of the second half.
• A dunk by Flagg pushed Duke’s scoring run to 12-2 over a five-minute span and forced an Arizona timeout with 12:27 remaining in the contest. Back-to-back three-pointers by the Wildcats drew the hosts within seven, 48-41, with half of the second frame played.
• Duke continued to hold Arizona at arm’s length, 54-46, after a free throw by Flagg gave the freshman 20 points. Duke finished off the road win, 69-55, scoring the game’s final six points across the closing minutes, including four free throws to ice the win. 

NOTES

• Head coach Jon Scheyer picked up his eighth win against a top-25 team and has led Duke to victory in seven of the last 10 games that the Blue Devils have played against ranked opponents.
• Duke defeated a top-25 team in a true road game for the first time since knocking off Michigan State, 87-75, on Dec. 3, 2019, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.
• The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Wildcats, 43-30, and have finished with a positive margin on the glass in all five contests so far this season. Arizona started the contest as the national leader in rebounding margin (+24.3).
• Arizona entered Friday averaging 21.7 offensive boards per game, but finished the night with just six.
• Arizona was averaging 94.3 points per outing, which ranked ninth in the country, but the Blue Devils held the Wildcats to just 55 points on 39.6% shooting from the field and 26.1% behind the arc.
• Arizona’s 55 points represent the Wildcats’ lowest offensive output in the regular season since Feb. 27, 2020, a 57-48 road loss at USC.
• Duke’s defense limited Caleb Love, Arizona’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game, to just eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field, including