The battle for the Elite Eight was extremely fierce on Thursday night between the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils and the No. 4 seed Arizona Wildcats. Duke stretched their lead to as many as 19 points at one point in the second half, but the Wildcats would not go away, cutting it to single digits with a few minutes left. Trimming the lead to as few as five points. Things got physical in the second half, when Arizona’s Jaden Bradley was called for a blatant hook-and-hold on Duke’s Kon Knueppel. Then, Seth Davis was furious after officials called a common foul on Duke’s Patrick Ngongba when he clearly pulled an Arizona player to the ground.
just a common foul on Ngongba. That’s not right.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 28, 2025
“just a common foul on Ngongba. That’s not right.” Luckily for Ngongba, even he fouled out, the Blue Devils still managed to hold on in an incredibly hard-fought game. The Duke lead even swelled to 19 at one point when they were up 70-51 in the second half. But Arizona made a furious rally, with the Blue Devils clinging to an 89-83 lead with three minutes remaining.
The Wildcats were given yet another heroic performance from their superstar, Caleb Love, who left it all out on the floor on Thursday evening, in what will be his last college basketball game. He finished with 35 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal. Arizona managed to battle back, but still fell short, losing 100-93.
Cooper Flagg delivered a spectacular performance exactly when his team needed it on Thursday night, propelling Duke to the Elite Eight, where they’ll face No. 2 seed Alabama. He had 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and a steal. In doing so, the star freshman became the first Duke player to record 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in an NCAA Tournament game. He looked like the player many penciled him in to be for the past few years. And quite frankly, he’s lived up to those expectations and then some.
Ngongba has steadily improved over the course of the year, playing 12 minutes on Thursday. He finished with 8 points, two rebounds, and one assist, before fouling out in the second half. The Blue Devils had to bring Khaman Maluach back off the bench. Maluach finished with 13 points, four blocks, and six rebounds. He’s one of the more coveted defensive prospects in this cycle and it’s easy to see his upside with his ability to catch lobs at the rim.
Duke will face Alabama on Saturday night in the Elite Eight for a chance to punch their tickets to the Final Four.
