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A pair of freshmen lead No. 12 Duke’s win over No. 17 Arizona
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A pair of freshmen lead No. 12 Duke’s win over No. 17 Arizona

NCAA basketball: Duke at ArizonaNovember 22, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg (2) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at McKale Center. Mandatory credits: Aryanna Frank-Imagn images

Cooper Flagg scored 24 points and Duke picked up its first win against a power-conference team this season by beating Arizona 69-55 on Friday night in Tucson, Ariz.

Kon Knueppel scored most of his 13 points on three 3-pointers as Duke’s top two scorers were freshmen in the team’s first real road game of the season. The Blue Devils overcame 8-for-13 shooting on free throws.

Duke avenged a loss to Arizona on the Blue Devils’ home court last November.

Duke’s Kahman Maluach and Tyrese Proctor each had eight points despite not scoring in the second half.

Jaden Bradley led Arizona (2-2), which won its first two home games, with 18 points. KJ Lewis added 12.

The Wildcats couldn’t muster much of a rally in large part because of too many offensive issues. They shot 39.6 from the field, committed 15 turnovers and collected just six offensive rebounds.

Arizona guard Caleb Love had just eight points on 3-for-13 shooting, including 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. A transfer from North Carolina, he previously tormented the Blue Devils while playing for their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals and in last year’s meet for Arizona.

Flagg made 10 of 22 shots from the field. He scored 16 of Duke’s 35 points in the second half. The Blue Devils made just 42.6 percent of their shots from the floor.

Duke led 47-33 after Flagg’s dunk with about 12 1/2 minutes to play. That lead was cut to 55-48 about seven minutes later.

Knueppel drained two 3-pointers in the final 5 1/2 minutes to cut off potential momentum for the Wildcats. The second of those shots gave the Blue Devils a 62-49 lead.

Duke had key production in several areas, with Maliq Brown’s seven rebounds off the bench helping the team’s 43-30 lead. Knueppel also had seven rebounds.

Duke led 34-27 at halftime, helped by the Wildcats’ 3-for-12 shooting on 3-pointers. Both teams committed eight turnovers.

–Field-level media