Duke Survived Arizona, Caleb Love Coming Back In Sweet 16 To Advance To Elite 8 With 100-93 Win Thursday Night
The month of March is about surviving, advancing!
Duke who is the 1 seed in the East Region did both in Sweet 16 when opposing Arizona, Caleb Love who was 4 seed in East Region!
As Duke advanced to Elite 8 Duke survived Arizona coming back in Sweet 16 Duke defensively let Arizona score 93 points.
This season defensively Duke has held their opponents to 62.5 % shooting
According to goduke.com
That wasn’t the case on Thursday night as Duke let Caleb Love the former North Carolina guard score 35 points shooting 11-21 on field goals , 5-11 on 3 pointers to go along with 4 rebounds, 1 assists. Jaden Bradley Despite Caleb Love’s efforts Duke wouldn’t be denied a spot in the Elite 8 as four players would score in double figures .
Cooper Flagg was 9-19 on field goals , 3-5 on 3 pointers , 9-10 on free throws 6 rebounds, 7 assists , 1 steal, 3 blocks to go along with 30 points. Khaman Maluach was 6-8 on field goals , 1-1 on free throws to go along with 6 rebounds , , 4 blocks, 13 points. Kon Knueppel was 5-7 on field goals , 2-2 on 3 pointers , 8-9 on free throws to go along with 4 rebounds , 20 points. Sion James was 5-6 on field goals , 3-4 on 3 pointers , 3-4 on free throws to go along 3 rebounds, 4 assists 16 points.
According to espn app
Following Duke surviving Arizona , Caleb Love coming back in sweet 16 to advance to Elite 8 with 100-93 win Thursday night in Newark New Jersey graduate student Sion James from Tulane who was 5-6 on field goals , 3-4 on 3 pointers , 3-4 on free throws to go along 3 rebounds, 4 assists 16 points had this to say about Duke about how Duke played defensively!
I think in that second half situation , stay together stay focused . Understand that we asked for this. We prepared for this moment . Nothing happened that we weren’t ready for . They weren’t ready for it with much game experience , but they showed their practice and study work prepped them nicely. We weren’t great defensively . I’m not sure if we’ve given up 93 points all year . Obviously Arizona ‘s a really good team . A really high scoring team , with some of the best , most talented players in the country . Sometimes it happens. It’s some of the controllable ones we gotta fix.’
Following Duke surviving Arizona , Caleb Love coming back in sweet 16 to advance to Elite 8 with 100-93 win Thursday night in Newark New Jersey freshman guard Kon Knueppel who was 5-7 on field goals , 2-2 on 3 pointers , 8-9 on free throws to go along with 4 rebounds , 20 points had this to say about how Duke played defensively about Caleb Love about how many offensive rebounds duke gave up to Arizona I thought we sucked . I thought Caleb Love was unbelievable . He played really , really, well. Twelve, That’s too many we actually outrebounded them . We wanted to do that , but I thought we were piss poor defensively.
Following Duke surviving Arizona , Caleb Love coming back in sweet 16 to advance to Elite 8 with 100-93 win Thursday night in Newark New Jersey Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer had this to say!
I thought the whole game there were some uncharacteristic plays that Arizona made us pay for and whatever it’s discipline you have to have off the ball some of the loose balls we didn’t come up with- I love the fact that we weren’t perfect , and you’re not necessarily perfect in these games . Just to hang tough , look they just put a ton of game pressure on us,
I thought our guys made some big -time winning plays, A lot of game pressure . They just wouldn’t go away , even with a 19 point lead . No lead really felt save with them. I thought our guys hit some clutch free throws, made enough plays . Obviously it was hard to get stops for anything in this game , but sometimes obviously that’s how it goes . I couldn’t be more proud.
According to Rodd Baxley ‘s Fayetteville News & Observer article https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/college/acc/2025/03/28/duke-basketball-defense-alabama-ncaa-tournament-elite-8/82638360007/
According to Stephen Wiseman ‘s News & Observer article https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article302923479.html
Duke is now going to prepare to play to 2 seed in Alabama in the Elite 8 Saturday night in Newark New Jersey with trip to Final Four in San Antonio at stake.
Alabama advanced to the Elite 8 with 113-88 win over BYU on Thursday night in Newark New Jersey!
Four players scored in double figures Clifford Omoruyi was 2-4 on field goals , 6-6 on free throws to go along with 6 rebounds , 2 assists , 2 steals, 10 points . Chris Youngblood was 6-12 on field goals , 5-11 on 3 pointers , 2-2 on free throws to go along with 3 rebounds , 19 points. Mark Sears was 11-18 on field goals , 10-16 on 3 pointers , 2-2 on free throws to go along 3 rebounds, 8 assists , 3 steals , 34 points. Aden Holloway was 7-14 on field goals , 6-13 on 3 pointers , 3-4 on free throws to go along 2 rebounds, 3 assists , 2 steals , 23 points.
Following Alabama’s 113-88 win over BYU who was 6th seed in East Region Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats had this to say about his team!
That was a fun game if you like offense. That was fun for the fans, I'm sure, at least for the Alabama fans. Listen, I've got to teach these guys some math. I told (Mark) Sears there's a thing called regression to the mean. His last six games he was shooting 14 percent, 5-of-35. He's not a 14 percent shooter, obviously. They had been going under ball screens just about every game we watched. I told both those guys, (Aden) Holloway and Sears, man, I hope they go under us because we're going to reign them. So, we were in the gym last night, the night before. These guys show up for voluntary shooting every time it's available to make sure that they're ready to go, and that work pays off. We want to base our program on hard work. I am so proud of our guys. We're in the Elite Eight for the third time in school history and back-to-back seasons. I thought everybody played well in their roles tonight."
According to https://rolltide.com/news/2025/3/27/mens-basketball-alabama-uses-historic-shooting-night-to-advance-to-second-consecutive-ncaa-elite-eight
Following Alabama’s 113-88 win over BYU who was 6th seed in East Region Alabama guard Mark Sears who was was 11-18 on field goals , 10-16 on 3 pointers , (10 3 Pointers) 2-2 on free throws to go along 3 rebounds, 8 assists , 3 steals , 34 points had this to say about hitting 10 three pointers making 10 3 pointers. I felt like the basket was as big as an ocean , I lost myself in the game.
According to Associated Press article on ESPN App
Tip off is set for 8:49 pm Eastern Time 7:49pm Central Time!
The game is going to be televised on TBS!
Though,
Who is commentating the game is to be determined!