Considering Duke might be the most disliked nonconference opponent for many Arizona fans — and hasn’t appeared in McKale Center for 34 seasons — local interest in the Blue Devils’ visit Friday likely will remain high.
But after Arizona and Duke lost last week, both teams fell out of the Top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday, taking a little national shine off the matchup.
Duke (3-1) dropped from No. 6 to No. 12 after losing 77-72 to Kentucky in Atlanta last week, while the Wildcats (2-1) slipped from No. 9 to No. 17 after losing at Wisconsin 103-88 on Friday. The Badgers (4-0) jumped into the poll at No. 19.
Scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on Friday, the UA-Duke game is officially sold out through UA, while the asking price for tickets started at $158 on StubHub and $159 on Seat Geek as of Monday afternoon. The game will be carried on ESPN2, the first time this season the Wildcats will be shown on a linear platform.
In the first game of the two-year series, Arizona won at Duke 78-73 early last season. Duke entered that game ranked No. 2 while Arizona was No. 12, and the Wildcats wound up taking over the No. 1 spot four weeks later.
Arizona guard Caleb Love drives against Duke guard Tyrese Proctor during the first half last season at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. Both teams fell out of this week’s Top 10 after losing last week.
Badgers bust in
Despite being ranked in just one of the previous seven preseason AP Top 25 polls, Wisconsin has now made it into a regular-season version in every one of those seasons.
This year, the Badgers lived under the radar early because they lost seven players to the transfer portal, including starters A.J. Storr (Kentucky) and Chucky Hepburn (Louisville). They ranked No. 45 overall in voting for the preseason poll, then moved up to No. 43 overall in votes received after the first week of the season.
Beating Arizona decisively put the Badgers in easily after the second week of games.
“It shows what they can be, what the potential of this group is,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said of his team’s win after Friday’s game. “I mean, we can talk about it, and I can tell them, but they have to go play and prove it out on the court. Tonight should give them confidence.”
Despite their offseason losses, the Badgers remained experienced in part by adding sixth-year senior John Tonje, who dropped 41 points on Arizona, and third-year forward Xavier Amos. Gard said that helped the Badgers pull away from a 65-65 tie in the second half after their early 18-point lead over UA evaporated.
“You can’t put a price tag on that experience that comes with older guys,” Gard said. “We played pretty well in the first half but you’ve got to handle success. To be able to handle it when they had us on the ropes a little bit there when it was 65-all, it really boils back to the maturity and experience that was on the floor.”
Scary memories
While UA trainer Justin Kokoskie examined his knee on the Kohl Center floor early in the second half Friday, Arizona forward Trey Townsend couldn’t help but think about his siblings.
“My brother and sister actually just tore their ACL and MCL,” Townsend said, “so when it happened, I was a little worried that it happened (to me).”
Townsend went to the locker room for more examinations but returned to the game after only four minutes. Townsend called it a “quick stinger” and that it wasn’t as serious as it seemed initially.
Big 12 honors Sanon
Former Arizona commit Joson Sanon became the first ASU player to win a weekly Big 12 men’s basketball award, earning co-newcomer of the week honors (along with BYU’s Egor Demin) after averaging 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and shooting 60.9% in wins over GCU and St. Thomas.
Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson was a repeat winner of Big 12 Player of the Week award after leading Kansas to a 77-69 win over Michigan State with a 28-point, 12-rebound effort.
Demin, also a co-newcomer of the week on Nov. 11, averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks during BYU’s wins over Queens and Idaho.
