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Keshad Johnson leads and Caleb Love waves goodbye to Cameron crowd as No. 12 Arizona beats No. 2 Duke 78-73

Johnson led all Wildcats players with 14 points as Arizona topped Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
Johnson led all Wildcats players with 14 points as Arizona topped Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)

The No. 12 ranked Arizona Wildcats (2-0) went into Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday night and handed No. 2 Duke (1-1) their first loss of the season with a 78-73 victory.

All five of Arizona's starters hit double digits in points, with senior forward Keshad Johnson leading the team with 14. His biggest bucket came with under a minute left and the Wildcats trailing by two. He drew a foul, made a close-range shot and hit the free throw, which gave them the lead for good.

Duke didn't let up and kept it close, even cutting the Arizona lead to 74-73 with five seconds to play. But a last-ditch effort by the Blue Devils wasn't enough and KJ Lewis emphatically slammed the door shut in the closing seconds.

Caleb Love, who previously beat the Blue Devils twice while at the University of North Carolina, finished with 11 points, with three of them coming on a bank-shot 3-pointer to end the first half.

Love also made four of the Wildcats' six key free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game. After the game, he was quite happy to have beaten Duke yet again, all in front of former Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

From the Associated Press:

When it was over, Arizona's players celebrated near midcourt, with Love waving goodbye to the irate Crazies and offering some testy words as big man Oumar Ballo extended his arms to blow them kisses.

The loss was also head coach Jon Scheyer's first at home since taking over the Duke program in 2022. The Blue Devils went 16-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium last season and finished 27-9 overall.

For Arizona, it was its first road win over a top-two opponent since 2001 when it went to Stanford and upset the Cardinal.

Love's Carolina past wasn't far from his mind, telling reporters postgame "I'm a Tar Heel for life."