Duke basketball took down #17 Arizona on the road 69-55 for a massive road win for the resume. This was the Blue Devils' first road win versus an AP Top 25 team since 2019.
It was a defensive brawl and the Blue Devils's physicality and fight propelled them to a win where much less offense was on display as was expected.
Here's how Duke came away with the victory
Freshmen shine in first road game
This was Duke's first true road game of the season and the first time the freshmen had played in a road environment. With the rowdy Wildcat fan base, it was quite the test for the rookies, but they looked unfazed. Cooper Flagg just continues to make winning plays and lead this Duke team. From the jump, he didn't look overwhelmed or fazed by the crowd and continued to play his polished game. Flagg led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field to go along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and two blocks. Flagg also looked like he's smoothing out his three-point shooting struggles as he shot 2-of-5 from three after going 4-of-24 in Duke's first four games. Flagg, similar to Duke's loss against Kentucky, led the Blue Devils offensively in the second half. It wasn't a great offensive showing from the Blue Devils as a whole, but Flagg had an answer every time the Wildcats made a push to shrink the lead. Kon Knueppel was quiet in the first half with just 2 points, but came alive in the second, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from three. Knueppel struggled to get to the rim as he typically does at will, but hit a couple massive threes in the final six minutes of the contest to keep Duke's lead at a comfortable number. Khaman Maluach struggled with foul trouble and split minutes with Maliq Brown, but defended the interior at a superb level when he was on the floor. The freshmen keep making winning plays and didn't let the road environment of McKale Center halt that.
Elite defense
This game was ugly for both sides offensively. Duke and Arizona are both in the top 15 at KenPom in adjusted offensive efficiency, and the makeup of these rosters looked the part of a high-scoring contest. But tonight, Duke led with its defense and quieted one of the best offenses in the country. Coming into tonight, Arizona had averaged 94 points per game and were held to just 55 by the Blue Devil defense on 39.6% shooting from the field. Duke switched and rotated well and kept Arizona from getting paint touches the entire game, leading in paint points 28-26. The Wildcats are a team that likes to get out in transition and play a fast tempo game, but Duke turned the Wildcats into a half court offense and made them operate at a more methodical pace, which Arizona struggled to do all night. The ball pressure from the Blue Devils was intense and every player was playing with active hands the entire night, trying to strip the ball away when it was loose or getting both hands on the ball and forcing a tie up. The Blue Devils also scored 19 points off of 15 forced turnovers from the Wildcats. Duke played clean defense too and prevented Arizona from getting points back at the line. The Wildcats came into tonight averaging 32 free throw attempts a game (6th most in Division I), and the Blue Devils limited them to just 12 tonight. It was an extremely impressive defensive outing for Duke, finding ways to win games when scoring isn't at a premium.
Crashing the glass
Duke controlled the glass on both sides of the ball all night, a strength that almost always favors Arizona. The Wildcats entered tonight as the best offensive rebounding team in the country statistically, collecting a ridiculous 50% of their misses on the season while averaging over 20 offensive rebounds per game. Duke limited the Wildcats to one shot on most possessions and rarely allowed second chance points especially down the stretch. The Wildcats corralled just 6 offensive rebounds. The Blue Devils didn't just keep Arizona off of the glass either, they dominated, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds of their own and winning the rebounding margin 43-30. Duke treated rebounding the basketball like a five-man job on every shot that went up, securing possessions at a consistent rate. Seven of the eight guys that checked in for Duke tonight snagged at least three rebounds, led by Brown and Knueppel with 7 each. It was an incredible display of fight and effort all night from the Blue Devils, clearly showing they still had a sour taste in their mouths after their Champions Classic loss to Kentucky. Keeping the best offensive rebounding team in the country off the glass is a tall task, especially on the road, but the Blue Devils held the Wildcats all night.
Duke's schedule doesn't soften up any time soon as the team will now head to Las Vegas to take on #1 Kansas on November 26th (9:00pm ET, ESPN) before hosting #4 Auburn on December 4th (9:15pm ET, ESPN).