Arizona's Derrick Williams drives between Duke's Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly during the first half of the NCAA West Regional semifinal in 2011. The teams announced Monday that they've agreed to a home-and-home series.

 Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

After a decade of dormancy, the Arizona-Duke basketball rivalry is back, thanks to a new coach — or maybe two of them.

The UA and Duke will play a home-and-home series in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the teams announced Monday morning. Arizona will play at Duke on Nov. 10, 2023, while the Blue Devils will visit McKale Center on Nov. 21, 2024.

It’s the latest sign of changes within the programs, which are led by second-year coach Tommy Lloyd and newcomer Jon Scheyer.

The series revives a rivalry made famous by former coaches Lute Olson and Mike Krzyzewski. Between 1987-97, the teams faced off five times in nonconference play, including one game at Duke and two at Arizona.

"We felt this was a great opportunity to play two games against an incredible program like Duke," Lloyd said in a statement. "Both programs are national brands with a rich history and have played some memorable games against each other, especially in the NCAA Tournament. But Coach Scheyer and I both felt these games would benefit our programs and be something that our fans would be excited about."

Though Duke 82-72 won when the teams famously met in the 2001 national championship game, it’s the Wildcats who own the series edge.

Arizona is 5-4 all-time against the Blue Devils — and 2-0 in Tucson, where the Wildcats won in 91-85 in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl Classic and 103-96 in 1991. The 1991 game, a double-overtime UA win, extended Arizona’s home-court winning streak to 61 games, then the longest in the country.

Duke beat the UA 78-76 in the teams’ only meeting in Durham, North Carolina, in 1990. Arizona avenged the title-game loss in 2011 with a 93-77 victory in the Sweet 16.

The teams last met Nov. 29, 2013 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Nick Johnson scored 15 points, Brandon Ashley had 13 and T.J. McConnell and Aaron Gordon had 10 apiece as the Wildcats won 72-66 to win the NIT Preseason Championship.

It’ll be the first-ever matchups between Lloyd and Scheyer, both longtime assistants who have been starting their head coaching careers. Lloyd replaced Sean Miller a year ago and led the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in his first year. Scheyer is replacing Krzyzewski, who retired last spring after coaching the Blue Devils to 13 Final Four appearances and five national championships.

Arizona’s Nov. 21, 2024 game against Duke will be their first in McKale Center since 1991, when Bobby Hurley and the Blue Devils took on Matt Othick and the Wildcats. Arizona won in double overtime.

As Krzyzewski grew Duke into a perennial power, he shunned home-and-home nonconference series for neutral-site games, often on the East Coast. The decision rubbed some coaches, including Olson, the wrong way.

Olson said he once received a call from CBS, with the television network saying Duke had agreed to play Arizona … in far-flung East Rutherford, New Jersey.

"I said, 'You know what? We'll play the neutral-site game in Phoenix or the Pond (of Anaheim),'" Olson told the Star in 2004. "'But other than that, you just call Duke up and tell them to go fly a kite.'"

In recent seasons, high-major coaches around the country have increasingly shied away from long-distance home-and-home series because oft-increased conference schedules, multi-team events and neutral-court games have cut into their available home nonconference dates.

But in their statements, both Lloyd and Scheyer stressed the importance of playing the home-and-home series.

"I have tremendous respect for Tommy Lloyd and Arizona,” Scheyer said. “For our team, I'm grateful for what I know will be important early-season tests. For our fans and for college basketball, it will be exciting to see these storied programs over the next two years come together in two of the greatest on-campus venues in the sport."

As of now, the Wildcats' 2023-24 schedule also includes participation in the Thanksgiving-week Wooden Legacy event in Southern California, plus a Nov. 7 opener against NAU and a road game at Southern to be played between Nov. 9-13. 

In 2024-25, the Wildcats are expected to participate in another ESPN Events-produced multi-team event to make up for their would-be participation in the cancelled 2020 NIT Season Tip-Off at the beginning of the COVID-restricted 2020-21 season.

Next season, Arizona is scheduled to host NAU, Southern, Utah Tech, Tennessee and California in early-season games while playing at Utah and against Indiana in Las Vegas while also competing in the Maui Invitational. UA also has three open home nonconference games remaining in 2022-23.

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.