No. 1 Duke faces No. 21 Arizona in the regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 27. The Blue Devils (33-3) and Wildcats (24-12) tip off at 9:39 p.m., on CBS.
Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce will call the action on CBS. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
About Duke
- Duke leads the nation in scoring margin (+21.5) and ranks third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.82), fourth in field goal percentage defense (.383), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.579), sixth in scoring defense (61.7), eighth in field goal percentage (.492), eighth in turnovers per game (9.3), 11th in rebound margin (+7.7), 12th in scoring offense (83.2), 16th in three-point percentage (.381), 18th in three-pointers per game (10.3), 19th in assists per game (16.9), 24th in three-point percentage defense (.305) and 30th in rebounds per game (38.5) – all top marks in the ACC.
- Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (83.2) and hold its opponents to fewer than 62 points per game (61.7).
- Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-four in both offensive (1st) and defensive (4th) adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom.
- Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, ranks among the ACC’s top-10 in four of five major statistical categories – scoring (3rd), rebounding (9th), assists (8th) and blocked shots (8th), and is 11th in steals.
- Junior guard Tyrese Proctor made a career-high seven three-pointers versus Baylor and is shooting 19-of-30 (.633) from distance in the last three games.
About Arizona
- bArizona tops the Big 12 and is 17th in the country in scoring offense with 82.2 points per contest. The Wildcats rank 11th in the nation in rebounds per game (40.1) and 12th in rebounding margin (+7.5).
- Arizona is 90-7 under Tommy Lloyd when scoring at least 80 points in a game. Two of the losses occured this year – Nov. 15 at Wisconsin (103-88) and Feb. 22 vs. BYU (96-95).
- Caleb Love, a First Team All-Big 12 honoree, leads Arizona in scoring (16.8 ppg) and is second in assists (3.5 apg). Love played 101 games in three seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Arizona for the 2023-24 campaign.
- KJ Lewis is second on the team in scoring in the postseason, averaging 13.4 points in addition to 5.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals. He also leads the team in FTM (18) and FTA (23) in the postseason.
- Point guard Jaden Bradley has turned it on the last nine games, averaging 13.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Bradley leads Arizona with 65 steals, the most by a Wildcat since TJ McConnell (83) in 2014-15.
Duke vs Arizona
- Thursday will be the 11th straight meeting between Duke and Arizona with both teams ranked in the top-25.
- Prior to Duke’s 69-55 road win over Arizona on Nov. 22, 2024, the Wildcats won three straight in the series, dating back to a 93-77 victory in the 2011 NCAA Tournament regional semifinal in Anaheim, California.
- Arizona leads the all-time series with Duke, 6-5. The programs split a recent home-andhome, which Arizona winning in Durham in 2023 and Duke winning in Tucson this season.
- The two teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament – Arizona losing in the national semifinal in 2001 and then defeating Duke in Anaheim in 2011.
- On Nov. 12, 2027, Arizona and Duke are slated to meet at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
