Inside The Wildcats

Duke beats Arizona: Sweet 16 live score, game updates

Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils beat the Wildcats to advance to the Elite Eight
Ben Sherman|
Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) passes the ball against Arizona guard Anthony Dell'Orso (3) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center.
Duke guard Tyrese Proctor (5) passes the ball against Arizona guard Anthony Dell'Orso (3) during the first half of an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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The Arizona Wildcats threw the kitchen sink at the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday night, but they couldn't overcome the officials and a huge game from Cooper Flagg.

Flagg, arguably the best player in college basketball, had 30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks to lead Duke to a 100-93 victory. Caleb Love led Arizona with 35 points in his final college game.

Arizona was whistled for 24 fouls, and Duke 22 in a game that deserved a far better performance from the officials.

Read our game recap below, with big-play highlights, in-game analysis and much more from the Duke-Arizona showdown in New Jersey.

(Refresh for the latest updates.)

Arizona-Duke second half updates

Duke 100, Arizona 93, final: The Blue Devils move on to the Elite Eight. Heckuva battle and heckuva season from Arizona.

Duke 94, Arizona 86, 44.5 seconds left: Arizona has two empty possessions, then gives up an offensive rebound. Valiant effort, but not quite enough to knock off a team as talented as Duke.

KJ Lewis fouls out: Lewis fouls Cooper Flagg with 1:33 to play and heads to the bench. He finishes with 6 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

Duke 91, Arizona 86, 1:52 left: Carter Bryant drills a 3-pointer and Tommy Lloyd calls timeout. Somehow, it's a two-possession game with two minutes to play. Cooper Flagg has 27 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Caleb Love has 33 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

Duke 89, Arizona 83, 3:22 left: The Wildcats need to get stops. Carter Bryant is currently matched up on Cooper Flagg, but Flagg looks like he's running on fumes.

Duke 86, Arizona 79, 4:31 left: Caleb Love throws down a transition dunk and Jon Scheyer calls timeout. Duke looks tired. Love has 33 points and is playing the game of his life.

Duke 86, Arizona 77, 5:50 left: Cooper Flagg has 27 for Duke and Caleb Love has 31 for Arizona. And Henri Veesaar just threw down a ridiculous alley-oop.

Officiating a joke: This is the worst officiated NCAA Tournament game I have ever seen. Brutal for such a big game.

Foul count: There have now been 36 fouls called with 6:46 left in the game. Come on.

Arizona came to fight: Henri Veesaar throws down a monster two-handed jam to cut Duke's lead to 78-71 with 7:47 to play.

Caleb Love! Arizona's fifth-year senior now has 31 points.

Duke 75, Arizona 63, 9:30 to play: Caleb Love is keeping Arizona in this game. He has 26 points.

Duke 70, Arizona 51, 13:12 left: Arizona has been outscored 22-9 to start the second half. Tobe Awaka has four fouls.

Duke 62, Arizona 47, 15:41 left: The Blue Devils are starting to pull away behind Cooper Flagg's playmaking. He has 20 points and 5 assists and is finding wide open teammates when he gets into the paint.

Duke 56, Arizona 47, 17:15 left: Carter Bryant comes off the bench and drills a 3-pointer for Arizona. With so many players in foul trouble Bryant is going to have to step up.

Jaden Bradley 3rd foul: Arizona's point guard picks up his third foul with 17:53 left. Arizona has been whistled for 13 fouls, and both Tobe Awaka and Bradley have three.

Officiating is so bad: Just over a minute into the second half the officials make two more questionable foul calls. They need to let these teams play. This is getting ridiculous. 23 total fouls.

Halftime stats: Duke 48, Arizona 42

Caleb Love leads Arizona with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting (3-of-5 from downtown). Anthony Dell'Orso, Jaden Bradley and Henri Veesaar have six points apiece. Arizona is 7-of-14 from the 3-point line. Freshman Carter Bryant is having a rough game (0-of-4 shooting).

Cooper Flagg leads all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting (2-of-4 from downtown). Flagg drilled a deep 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer. Kom Knueppel has 10 points and Sion James has 8. Duke is 7-fo13 from downtown.

There were 21 fouls called in the first half (10 on Arizona and 11 on Duke), and the crowd booed the officiating multiple times.

Arizona-Duke first half updates

Arizona guard Caleb Love (1) celebrates after making a 3-pointer during the first half against Duke
Arizona guard Caleb Love (1) celebrates after making a 3-pointer during the first half against Duke during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Duke 48, Arizona 42, halftime: Duke hits back-to-back 3-pointers to close the first half to take a six-point lead. Carter Bryant fumbled an offensive rebound, which gave Cooper Flagg a chance to get off a deep 3-pointer just before the buzzer, and he nailed it. Outside of the officiating, it was a great half of basketball.

Flagg vs. Love: What a battle. Two big-time players are going blow for blow. Cooper Flagg has 15 points and Caleb Love has 14. We're all tied at 42-42 with 41 seconds left in the half.

Awaka on Flagg: Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd has switched 6-foot-8 junior Tobe Awaka onto Cooper Flagg.

Arizona 36, Duke 36, 2:27 left: This game has a Big 12 feel to it. It has been a physical, downhill game with multiple collisions at the rim. And there have been 18 fouls called.

Cooper Flagg heating up: Duke's All-American leads all scorers with 11 points. Tommy Lloyd has Carter Bryant matched up on him, and Flagg is driving right past him. With KJ Lewis on the bench with two fouls, Trey Townsend is the best option to guard Flagg.

Conrad Martinez! Tommy Lloyd brings in little-used sophomore guard Conrad Martinez and he buries a corner 3-pointer. This is wild. Arizona is 6-of-10 from downtown. Duke leads 34-32 with 3:46 left.

Arizona's balance: Four Wildcats' players have scored 6 points, and Trey Townsend has five. It's tough to key on a specific player.

Here comes Caleb! Another 3-pointer from Caleb Love — this one on a baseline out-of-bounds play — makes it Duke 26, Arizona 25 with 6:40 to play.

Duke 24, Arizona 22, 7:51 left: Henri Veesaar converts a 3-point play to pull Arizona within two points. Anthony Dell'Orso and Jaden Bradley lead Arizona with 6 points apiece.

Caleb Love 3! Arizona's leading scorer finally gets on the board on a contested 3-pointer. Duke 23, Arizona 19, 8:20 left.

Duke 20, Arizona 16, 9:00 left: Arizona has gone cold from the field since Jaden Bradley went to the bench with foul trouble. Caleb Love is 0-of-3 to start the game.

Officiating is already a problem: The officials are not letting them play. They've already whistled 10 fouls and multiple players on both teams are in foul trouble midway through the first half.

Khaman Maluach foul trouble: Duke's 7-foot-2 center picks up his second foul with 11:13 left and goes to the bench. Really tight whistle so far.

Jaden Bradley foul trouble: Arizona's point guard picks up his second foul with 11:23 left and goes to the bench. Anthony Dell'Orso comes in for him.

Duke 17, Arizona 16, 11:48 left: Tyrese Proctor scores 7 consecutive points to give Duke the lead. Timeout on the floor.

Arizona 13, Duke 10, 15:06 left: The Wildcats and Blue Devils are trading blows, and Arizona is on top early. The Wildcats are 3-of-3 from downtown and the Blue Devils are 2-of-4. Arizona's Australian, Anthony Dell'Orso (6 points) is outplaying Duke's Aussie, Tyrese Proctor (2 points), so far.

Delly on fire! Anthony Dell'Orso hits two early 3-pointers for the Wildcats.

Townsend on Flagg: Arizona fifth-year senior Trey Townsend, who is 22 years old, is guarding Duke All-American Cooper Flagg to start the game.

Game on: The game officially tips off at 7:05 p.m. PT/MST. Duke wins the tip.

Arizona-Duke pregame updates

Starting lineup: Tommy Lloyd is going with his usual starters: Jaden Bradley, Caleb Love, Anthony Dell'Orso, Trey Townsend and Tobe Awaka.

New game time: Because the BYU-Alabama game ran long, the Arizona vs. Duke game will now tip off at 7:03 p.m. PT/MST.

Coast-to-coast travel: Arizona has been on the road for more than a week. After flying to Seattle on March 19 for their first two NCAA Tournament games, the Wildcats flew directly from Seattle to Newark, New Jersey, after beating Oregon on Sunday night. Will road fatigue be a factor on Thursday night?

Arizona lands huge recruit: It has already been a busy day for Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd. He picked up a huge recruit earlier Thursday when 5-star forward Koa Peat committed to Arizona.

More Arizona & March Madness News

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Ben Sherman
BEN SHERMAN

Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.

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