The national spotlight was on Tucson, Ariz. Friday night as No. 17 Arizona (2-2) hosted No. 12 Duke (4-1) and early on it looked like a heavy weight fight with both side trading punches. However, a 6-0 to close out the first half and increasing the led by as much as 13 points was too much for the Wildcats to over come in their 69-55 loss to the Blue Devils.

Coming into the 2024-25 season Tommy Lloyd talked about having guard Caleb Love adjust his playing style by playing more without the ball in his hands. So far, through four games it has been a struggle for Love, who is averaging a season low in points and field goal percentage.

Against Duke, Love struggled going 3 of 13 from the field while scoring eight points and collecting four rebounds and four assists.

As an offensive unit, the Wildcats were held in check by shooting 40% from the field and going 6 of 23 from the 3-point line. No one on Arizona was able to really get in an offensive rhythm especially in the second half were the team scored 28 points on 27 shots.

The only player to really get anything going with guard Jaden Bradley, who scored 18 points but took 16 shots to get to that number.

Meanwhile, freshman Cooper Flagg for Duke had his way with the defense scoring 24 points while collecting six rebounds and three assists on 22 shots.

The Blue Devils were able to impose their will on the glass winning 43 to 30, which also led to 14 second-chance points. Coming into the game, Arizona was the No. 1 rebounding team in terms of margin and out rebounded opponents by 24.3 boards in each game.

The back-to-back losses might knock the Wildcats out of the Top 25 and the team will now get ready for the Battle 4 Atlantis with a game against Davidson on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. (MST).

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