In Coach K’s Attendance, #2 Duke Goes Down To #12 Arizona Headlining Keshad Johnson, Caleb Love

The Blue Devils made a perfect start to their NCAA campaign earlier this week. However, they couldn’t hold on to their nerves in their second game as the Arizona Wildcats edged past them. With Coach K in attendance, the game went down the wire with the final score reading 78-73.

Following this, a couple of players from the Arizona Wildcats troubled the Blue Devils the entire night. These two standout performances proved to be the difference between both these sides.

Keshad Johnson and Caleb Love frustrate the home team

The No. 2 ranked Duke locked horns against a spirited Arizona at a sold-out Friday night in Durham, North Carolina. In a riveting contest, the game went down to the wire as Arizona handed the Blue Devils their first defeat of the season. Evidently, Arizona’s senior forward Keshad Johnson led the scoreboard with 14 points next to his name. In addition to this, he also secured 8 rebounds to go with 2 assists. Furthermore, the former North Carolina star also chipped in with 11 valuable points and 3 rebounds. The talented No. 2 of the Arizona Wildcats assisted three times in 33 minutes before calling it a night at the Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Nevertheless, Kylie Filipowski showed his brilliance for the Blue Devils with 25 points and 8 rebounds. He scored 11 of his points and half of his rebounds in the first half itself. Further, he shifted the momentum in Duke’s favor in the first five minutes of the second half by scoring 10 points. The star guard Jeremy Roach added another valuable contribution for the Blue Devils. Apparently, he ended his outing on 17 points with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Read More: Will Cooper Flagg Play His 1st Game With Duke in 2023? All You Need to Know about 16YO Baller’s Much Awaited Debut

There are several talking points after the conclusion of this classic game.

Talking points of the game

The No. 12 ranked Arizona Wildcats showed an aggressive mindset from the start and didn’t let the game slip out of their hands. Moreover, they had five players in their starting line-up finishing the game in double digits. They were relentless throughout the game and put on a collective team effort. Moreover, this was the first loss for Jon Scheyer at home ever since he took the charge from Mike Krzyzewski.

Clearly, where you stand at the ranking does not matter in the NCAA competition. All the participating teams are showing their baddest side this season and no one is bowing down.

Watch This Story: Draymond Green Vents Frustration on Victor Wembanyama and Thompson Twins for Making Life Harder

It was a bad day for the Dukes and losing at home can be disheartening. But fans do hope that the Blue Devils will up their game in the next match against MI State.