Two of college basketball’s traditional powers — No. 12 Duke and No. 17 Arizona — will play in Tucson, Ariz., for the first time in more than two decades on Friday night.
That game coached by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Arizona’s Lute Olson on Feb. 24, 1991, went into double overtime and the Wildcats outlasted Duke 103-96.
The late Bison Dele, then known as Brian Williams, led Arizona with 24 points.
Duke featured Bobby Hurley (who now coaches Arizona’s archrival, Arizona State), Grant Hill and Christian Laettner.
It’s a series dotted by big games in history.
After that 1991 game, the teams split four neutral-site games — including Duke beating the Wildcats in the 2000-01 national championship game — before Arizona defeated the Blue Devils 78-73 last season at Durham, N.C.
Arizona has a 6-4 edge in the series that dates to 1961.
“Friday sets up to be an epic night for early-season college basketball,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who played for Krzyzewski with the Blue Devils, said he had Arizona among his three finalists when he was recruited by Olson in 2001.
He was in the stands in Minneapolis when Duke beat Arizona in the national title game.
“I remember being at that game and wanting to play games like that — and then Lute Olson recruited me,” Scheyer said. “Arizona was one of my final three schools. So, personally, I have a lot of respect for Arizona, the program that they have, and Tommy.”
Friday’s game, completing the home-and-home arrangement, pits the Blue Devils (3-1) with freshman Cooper Flagg, projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the next NBA draft, against the Wildcats (2-1). Arizona is led by preseason All-American fifth-year guard Caleb Love.
Love has a personal rivalry with Duke, having played three years at North Carolina before transferring to Arizona last season. He scored 28 points when North Carolina eliminated Duke in the 2022 Final Four.
Love’s performance in a 103-88 loss last Friday at Wisconsin mirrored that of the Wildcats’ struggles, scoring only six points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field before fouling out with 4:57 left.
The Wildcats never led and their perimeter defense allowed Wisconsin 12 shots from 3-point range. John Tonje burned Arizona with 41 points.
“I’m not interested in going undefeated, not at all,” Lloyd said. “Our program’s ready to take the next step and I’m ready to lead the charge. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to play better.
“We’re going to go back, take a breath, get home, and, and we’re excited for the opportunity we got (against Duke).”
Duke had the opportunity to reset itself after losing to Kentucky 77-72 at Atlanta on Nov. 12.
The Blue Devils defeated Wofford 86-35 at home last weekend. Tyrese Proctor led a balanced scoring effort with 15 points. Flagg had nine rebounds with eight points, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
“A great bounce-back game,” Scheyer said. “I am really proud of how we shared the ball (season-high 24 assists on 30 made field goals). We’ve talked a lot about the process of the season, how no matter what, win or lose, how you respond is really important.”
