Two of the biggest brand names in college basketball will meet for the second time this season when the No.1 seed Duke Blue Devils take on the No. 4 seed Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16. While the lack of upsets during the first weekend of the tournament was disappointing, it has created some incredible matchups now with this being one of them.

Duke rolled through their first two games winning by a combined total of 67 points. The biggest takeaway for them was Wooden Award hopeful Cooper Flagg looking healthy after rolling his ankle in the ACC Tournament. Aside from Flagg, guard Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils in scoring in both games which included going 13 for 16 from the three point line. Duke is the odds on favorite to win it all and for good reason as they have looked like the definitive best team in the country over the past month.

Arizona rolled over Akron in their first round matchup and defeated Oregon in an exciting game where they trailed 19-4 early to advance. The Wildcats high powered offense has been firing on all cylinders lately led by Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley. One of the biggest storylines going into this game will be former North Carolina Tar Heel Love going against his old rival. During his three year career at UNC, Love averaged 17.7 points while going 4-3 against Duke with one of those wins being in Coach K’s last ever game in the 2022 Final Four. Aside from that storyline this Arizona team is talented and athletic and will be the biggest test the Blue Devils have faced in quite some time.

The winner of this one will advance to the Elite 8 in the east region where they will take on either Alabama or BYU.

Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook

Duke injury report

• Arizona is one of three schools Duke currently has a losing all-time record against (minimum 10 games)

Arizona vs. Duke prediction

These two met back in late November in a game that Duke won by 14 points. Both those teams felt completely different back then though as Arizona struggled early in the season and we were still unsure just how good Duke was with three freshmen and multiple transfers in the lineup. 

If Arizona wants to win, this game will have to be played in their style being fast paced and they will need to shoot the ball well. You need a balanced attack against this Duke team though as in their three losses this season they have been held to 72 or fewer points. This has only happened two other times in wins against power conference opponents with one of those being against the Wildcats. This will be no easy feat though as the Blue Devils are averaging 85.3 ppg in the month of March.

For Duke to win it all starts with slowing down Caleb Love. The Wildcats offense runs through him and if he is getting open looks and shooting well this team is tough to beat. Controlling the glass is also of note as Arizona is one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country and thrives off of second chance scoring opportunities. 

With all this being said, Duke is on another level right now. They will be playing in front of a heavy home crowd out east and I find it impossible to pick against them in this scenario. I think Love plays well to keep them in the game, but if the Wildcats are not on shooting this one could get ugly. Arizona had no answer for Cooper Flagg last time they met, and I think that shows again along with some outside help from Proctor and Kon Knueppel to send Duke to their third Elite 8 in the past four years.