Cooper Flagg scored 24 points and No. 12 Duke picked up its first victory against a power-conference team this season by defeating No. 17 Arizona 69-55 on Friday night at Tucson, Ariz.
Kon Knueppel scored most of his 13 points courtesy of three 3-pointers as Duke’s top two scorers were freshmen in the team’s first true road game of the season. The Blue Devils overcame 8-for-13 shooting on free throws.
Duke avenged a loss to Arizona last November on the Blue Devils’ home court.
Duke’s Kahman Maluach and Tyrese Proctor both had eight points despite not scoring in the second half.
Jaden Bradley led Arizona (2-2), which won its first two home games, with 18 points and five steals. KJ Lewis added 12 points.
The Wildcats couldn’t muster much of a rally in large part because of too many problems offensively. They shot 39.6 from the field, committed 15 turnovers and collected only six offensive rebounds.
Guard Caleb Love of Arizona managed just eight points on 3-for-13 shooting, including 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. He is a transfer from North Carolina and he previously tormented the Blue Devils when he played for their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals and in last year’s meeting for Arizona.
Flagg made 10 of 22 shots from the field. He posted 16 of Duke’s 35 points in the second half. The Blue Devils made only 42.6 percent of their shots from the floor.
Duke was up 47-33 after Flagg’s dunk with about 12 1/2 minutes to play. That advantage was cut to 55-48 about seven minutes later.
Knueppel drained two 3-pointers in the final 5 1/2 minutes to help cut off potential momentum for the Wildcats. The second of those shots gave the Blue Devils a 62-49 lead.
Duke received key production in several areas, with Maliq Brown’s seven rebounds off the bench helping the team’s 43-30 advantage on the boards. Knueppel also had seven rebounds.
Duke led 34-27 at halftime, aided by the Wildcats’ 3-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers. Both teams committed eight turnovers.
–Field Level Media
