Duke comes apart in first loss

DURHAM – Rebounding and getting beaten physically was Duke’s concern in the first half of Friday night’s showdown against Arizona.

Lacking ball movement and playing disjointed offensively was the problem all night, and that’s what Jon Scheyer struggled to understand after a 78-73 loss to the visiting 12th-ranked Wildcats.

“The difference of when we made them work on defense and the shot quality that we got,” Scheyer said, “versus when we just came down right away and tried to make it happen — I don’t know.

“I don’t know what went into that. … It’s not winning basketball, that’s the bottom line.”

Scheyer’s first loss as head coach at Cameron Indoor Stadium came with No. 2 Duke (1-1) committing as many turnovers as it had assists (14).

Six of Duke’s turnovers came in the first half, and then six came in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The last two turnovers came in the last minute — Tyrese Proctor traveled with 28 seconds left and Duke down 70-69, and the game ended when Ryan Young’s heave from the baseline was intercepted and Duke couldn’t get a potential game-tying 3.

“I think we practice pretty well. There are still days where … we shy away from, I think, what’s going to work for us,” sophomore Kyle Filipowski said. “Everyone thinks what’s going to work for us, we just don’t do it some days.

“There are going to be a lot of teams that struggle guarding us, moving forward.”

Filipowski led Duke with 25 points and eight rebounds, and Jeremy Roach had 17 points. They were the only two in double-figure scoring, as Mark Mitchell — returning from his one-game absence — and Jared McCain scored nine points each.

Duke’s second-half offense was feast or famine. A two-minute stretch saw the Blue Devils go on a 10-2 run, with 3s by Roach and Filipowski. McCain’s acrobatic transition layup tied the game at 52-52, and Sean Stewart’s tip-in on the next possession gave Duke a 54-52 lead with 12:49 left.

Arizona scored the next eight points.

“We have too good of players, we have too much firepower that we can have on the court just to go one-on-one,” Scheyer said. “You’re just not going to be able to do it against really good teams. … Too many wasted possessions, bad shots, turnovers. Not only do you not score, but it leads to early runouts for them.”

The Blue Devils cut it to a one-point deficit twice on 3-pointers from Proctor and Roach in the next few minutes. Duke got a lead on Roach’s 3-pointer off of a sideline out-of-bound play with the shot clock dwindling, but Keshad Johnson’s three-point play with 46 seconds left was the decisive score that let Arizona (2-0) play from ahead for the dragged-out final minute.

“I think we’ve just got some things to work on,” Mitchell said. “I think we’re a good team, but we definitely could’ve played a little better.”

Mike Krzyzewski was in the crowd for the second time since his retirement. He sat on the opposite side of the court from where he sat for last season’s win over Notre Dame — in other words, not in front of Duke’s band.

Caleb Love — who else? — banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Arizona a 41-33 halftime lead.

To that point, it was evident what Duke’s fatal flaw would be; if it wasn’t already, based on roster makeup.

Arizona had 10 offensive rebounds — and 10 second-chance points — before Duke had its first offensive rebound. And that was only because a long rebound on a missed 3 bounced to Roach. The Wildcats had 22 of their 41 points come in the paint.

Without rim protection and against players adept at driving gaps, Duke’s defense was at a disadvantage.

“I don’t want to say that’s who we are,” Scheyer said when asked if his team is too focused on the offensive end, leading to defensive breakdowns. “You know, this is one game. Tonight, I would say it was that way.”

TIP-INS: Along with Krzyzewski, Grant Hill and Matt Jones were in the crowd. As were Class of 2025 twins Cameron and Cayden Boozer, and soon-to-be signee Isaiah Evans. … Duke was outrebounded 45-33, marking the worst rebound differential in 38 games under Scheyer. The Blue Devils were only outrebounded five times last season. … Duke got five points from its bench, four of which came on tip-ins by Christian Reeves and Stewart. Arizona got 16 points from its bench. … After scoring 15 points in the opener, freshman guard Caleb Foster didn’t score in 12-plus minutes. … Filipowski was the only Duke starter without an assist, but was also the only one without a turnover. … Duke made 2 of 12 3-pointers in the first half and 6 of 11 in the second half.