Men's basketball scouting report: No. 12 Arizona Wildcats at No. 2 Duke Blue Devils

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kylan Boswell (6-2 sophomore)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-6 senior)

F Keshad Johnson (6-7 senior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 senior)

DUKE

G Jeremy Roach (6-1 senior)

G Tyrese Proctor (6-5 sophomore)

F Jared McCain (6-3 freshman)

F Kyle Filipowski (7-0 sophomore)

C Ryan Young (6-10 senior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona leads 5-4, but the two perennial powers haven’t played in over 10 years. Arizona won the past two matchups, beating Duke 72-66 in the 2013-14 NIT Season Tip-Off and 93-77 in the 2011 NCAA Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California. Duke beat Arizona in the 1997-98 Maui Invitational and 2001 NCAA championship game at Minneapolis. The teams each held serve at home during their one home-and-home series, with Duke beating Arizona 78-76 in 1989-90 and the Wildcats winning 103-96 in double overtime at McKale Center in 1990-91.

Duke overview: The post-Mike Krzyzewski era is off to a good start under former Blue Devil standout Jon Scheyer, who went 27-9 last season and is now mixing in four returning starters with what 247Sports ranks the No. 2 recruiting class. The Blue Devils are loaded with the usual five-star talent throughout their roster and can flex to the demands of any particular matchup.

A lot of their attack goes through decorated big man Kyle Filipowski, who can play power froward or center depending on whether the Blue Devils run with a smaller lineup. Bigger lineups often feature Ryan Young at center, where he gives a physical look and is a capable scorer around the basket, while the 6-8 Mark Mitchell can play power forward. Mitchell sat out Monday with an ankle injury during Duke’s opener against Dartmouth, but Scheyer said Thursday he was on track to play against Arizona.

Without Mitchell on Monday, the Blue Devils went with three guards. They also have used TJ Power, a 6-9 freshman, to add versatility off the bench.

In the backcourt, Jeremy Roach is a rare fourth-year Duke starter who not only is a proven playmaker, but produced off the ball more often as last season progressed, allowing former UA recruiting target Tyrese Proctor to excel at the point. In reality, both guards share playmaking duties, while freshmen Jared McCain and Caleb Foster bring in additional scoring: McCain most often from outside, while Foster can get to the basket or shoot from just about any range. Junior Jaylen Blakes also brings a steady touch to the point guard spot off the bench.

He said it

“The talent thing just kind of keeps moving forward with them. They compete hard, they’re going to guard you, they’re going to get their stuff on the offensive end of the floor. They have a lot of different ways they can play and just like most people, they are still trying to find their way in terms of rotation and what works best.

“(Filipowski) can score it in the post, he can step outside, he can make plays, he can shoot it from 3. He poses problems for people because of his versatility. Young really does all the little things for them offensively and defensively. He’s a capable scorer in the post and certainly a guy that works hard to do it the way they like things.

“(Duke’s guards are) really good, pretty athletic, and a big chunk of their scoring comes from Roach and Proctor. Both of those guys are very capable scorers. They shoot it from 3, they can drive to the basket, they present problems with their explosiveness. McCain and Foster give them a boost with their ability to score and not having a lot of fear factor.

“Blakes has been very active in the preseason for them, very aggressive with his play. They probably put nine, 10 guys out there on the floor, so they have a whole host of talent that they can use in a variety of ways. We’ve just got to be prepared. It’s about us in terms of how we play and how we execute on the road and in a hostile environment.”

— UA assistant coach Steve Robinson, who scouted the Blue Devils

Key players

Duke: Kyle Filipowski

After collecting the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP awards last season, Duke’s 7-footer is a preseason All-American as a sophomore. He’s a skilled inside and outside scorer who took more than a quarter of his shots last season from 3-point range, rebounds efficiently on both ends of the floor and last season picked up 5.3 fouls every 40 minutes played, hitting free throws at a 76.5% rate.

Arizona: Keshad Johnson

Not only will Arizona likely need an infusion of Johnson’s aggressiveness and leadership throughout its rotation to survive Cameron, but the athletic grad transfer from San Diego State might find himself assigned to contain Filipowski.

Sidelines

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No Love lost

If Caleb Love is going to redeem himself after a rough junior season at North Carolina in 2022-23, Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium is a perfect place to start.

Love dropped 25 points at Duke as a freshman in 2020-21, hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers, but that COVID-year game was played in front of murals instead of the actual Cameron Crazies.

Love first faced Duke’s student fans during his sophomore season of 2021-22, scoring 22 points mostly by shooting 12 for 12 from the line.

While North Carolina won both of those games, it lost 63-57 last season, when Love had 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting and missed his only free throw.

Love was unavailable for comment after Arizona’s season-opening game with Morgan State, and UA did not hold media interviews during the week leading up to Friday’s game. But senior forward Keshad Johnson said Love’s experience will help the Wildcats.

“He’s been there,” Johnson said. “Caleb Love is very vocal with helping us out. ... He just instilled the fact that we’ve just got to be ourselves and don’t get caught up into the outside noise.”

UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he wasn’t about to pressure Love into issuing some sort of scouting report on Duke, but said he expected Love and his teammates would hold conversations about what to expect Friday.

“We will always listen to our guys if they tell us something in a game or that ‘I’ve played against this guy,’ “ Lloyd said.

(Cameron) Crazy memories

Actually, Love isn’t even close to being the Wildcat with the most experience inside Cameron. That would be Robinson, who worked as an assistant coach at rival North Carolina for 18 seasons.

So, of all the memories Robinson picked up there over the years, the top one is ...

“All of them,” he said, “And when you were able to win over there, it’s a special feeling.”

That actually happened pretty often. Of the 18 visits North Carolina made to Cameron while Robinson was an assistant coach, the Tar Heels pulled out victories eight times.

It’s not easy to silence the Cameron Crazies, Duke’s famously rowdy student section, but the Tar Heels had a knack for it.

“It’s a hostile environment for sure,” Robinson said. “They’re in there pretty tight and close to the action, and you can feel it. But it’s a good environment to play college basketball there. In the past, I’ve been really super excited about games, and I’m sure that this game offers an even higher level of name recognition that will go with it.

“So, you know, Friday night in Durham, a college basketball game? I know those fans will be pretty fired up.”

Social buzz

After Arizona’s three 2024 commits signed their letters-of-intent to play for the Wildcats starting in 2024-25, the school posted short videos of UA coach Tommy Lloyd talking about each one.

Those were the only comments available, since Arizona had no media availability after its season opener Monday, but Lloyd offered these words via video:

Of forward Carter Bryant, he said: “What a great person. It’s been so much fun to be around him during this recruiting process. On the court, he’s versatile, he can play multiple positions to impact the game on both ends of the floor. He’s incredibly unselfish and he’s got a great winning spirit.”

Of guard Jamari Phillips, Lloyd said: “He’s a really exciting player. He’s really creative on the offensive end. I think he’s got a lot of potential, not only to be a shot-maker and shot-taker but also to be a distributor. Really looking forward to seeing his game grow over the course of his Arizona career.”

As of press time Thursday, Arizona acknowledged Emmanuel Stephen’s signing via social media but had not posted a video of Lloyd discussing him.

Bryant signed his NLI at Corona (Calif.) Centennial High School on Wednesday, while Phillips and Stephen signed together during a ceremony Thursday at Glendale Dream City.

Numbers game

9 — Duke’s national rank last season in offensive rebounding percentage (35.9)

34 — Seasons since Duke and Arizona have played on Duke’s campus

298 — Duke’s ranking in adjusted tempo last season, according to Kenpom.com