Once again the Blue Devils managed to build a a decent halftime lead against a top 25 opponent. This time it was Arizona. Despite both teams being stuck in the mud offensively the Blue Devils were able to accomplish some of their objectives – keep the Wildcats off the offensive glass – CHECK. Slow down their high powered offense – CHECK. The first half saw Arizona only able to gather 1 offensive rebound – in fact the Blue Devils out-rebounded the Wildcats 21-14 in the first half. Neither team was able to eclipse 45% shooting nor 35% from beyond the arc. Duke was able to turn 8 Arizona turnovers into 12 points. The Blue Devils would exit the first half with a 34-27 lead.
Unlike the Kentucky game Duke would not fold in the second half. Despite a sloppy beginning to the second 20 from Duke which included 2 turnovers and 4-0 Arizona run Duke would right the shit and not let the Wildcats get within 5 points for the rest of the game. To be honest neither team impressed offensively – it was not due to either team being bad offensively it was the two really good defensive teams in a chess match. Duke was better and held a team averaging 94.3 points per game to 55 in their own gym. The shots fell when they needed to for the Blue Devils, unlike the Kentucky game but more importantly the stops happened when they needed to and with extreme prejudice! The Devils held the Wildcats to just 40% shooting in the game and 26% from beyond the arc.
Cooper Flagg had a quiet 24 points if there is a such thing and shot 10-22 in order to get those points. Flagg also added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Flagg accounted for 16 of Duke’s 35 points in the second half and helped them keep the Wildcats at bay. Freshman Kon Knueppel came alive in the second half after scoring just 2 points in the first half the freshman forward would score 11 points in the second hitting 3-4 from beyond the arc. Maliq Brown and Knueppel tied for the rebounding lead with 7 each for the Blue Devils.
Duke out-rebounded Arizona, 43-30, and ended the game with a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass. The Wildcats were averaging 51.3 total rebounds and 21.7 offensive boards before Friday. The Blue Devils scored 19 of their 69 points off of Arizona turnovers.
The play of the game for me came at the 6:34 mark of the second half, Arizona guard Caleb Love shot a 3-pointer that rimmed off, KJ Lewis collected the offensive rebound but lost it to his teammate Trey Townsend. Cooper Flagg goes airborne to block Townsend – Cooper would have committed a foul putting Arizona on the line, possibly even a 3-point play but Maliq Brown poked the ball free after the shot fake from Townsend, then gathered it and passed it to Tyrese Proctor. That was a heady run saving play. Duke on the next possession would draw two straight fouls and push the lead to 8 instead of what could have been just a 5 or 4 point lead.
The story of this game and what should grab the headlines for the Blue Devils aside from Cooper Flagg’s big game is the defensive pressure Duke put on Arizona. Duke played a masterful game on the defensive end of the floor. If the Blue Devils can continue to hand their hat on the defensive end eventually the offense will catch up.
