Duke Keeps Rolling, Takes Down Arizona In 'Main Card' Sweet 16 Matchup

NEWARK, NJ – There were two Sweet 16 games in Newark, NJ on Thursday night, but there was no question that the nightcap between Duke and Arizona was the main event. Ultimately, it was the Blue Devils that kept rolling right into the Elite Eight with a 100-93 win over the Wildcats. 

Duke hasn't lost a game since February 8, and they are currently favored to win the National Championship. Arizona put up a fight, but it's hard to beat the best team in the country. Oh, and that team happens to also have the best player. 

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is a sensation, and he acquitted himself well on the big stage. He looked locked in during pregame warm-ups and carried it over into the game against the Wildcats. 

Flagg scored 18 of Duke's 48 first-half points, setting the tone for the evening. The Blue Devils had a six-point lead at halftime but immediately asserted their dominance coming out of the break. 

Duke stretched the lead to 19 in the first seven minutes of the second stanza, and when Cooper Flagg wasn't scoring buckets, he was grabbing rebounds or dishing out assists. 

But Arizona didn't go away. 

They needed a big game from Caleb Love, and he delivered it… and then some. 

At one point in the second half, Love scored 15 straight points for the Wildcats and eventually cut the Duke lead down to five points with just a minute-and-a-half to go. Love scored a game-high 35 in his final college basketball game. 

Ultimately, though, it was Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils reaching the Elite Eight. Flagg scored 30 points and had 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal. So much for "freshman jitters." 

Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils continued their winning ways, beating Arizona in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite Eight against Alabama on Saturday night.

(Lance King/Getty Images)

In the first game of the night, Alabama rolled BYU with an NCAA Tournament record-setting three-point shooting performance. Like Duke, Alabama also posted triple digits in a convincing 113-88 victory. 

If there's one guy who couldn't be less surprised that Duke defeated Arizona, it's Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats. Immediately following his team's win over BYU, Oats said, "We gotta be better against Duke." 

Duke was still 30 minutes from even starting its game against Arizona, and Oats was already assuming they'd be Alabama's opponent. And he was right. 

And if the Tide and Oats thought they were at a disadvantage in the first game against BYU – at least as far as the crowd was concerned – just wait until they face one of the most popular college basketball teams in the country with the most popular player. 

Duke against Alabama will likely be the most highly anticipated of all four games in the Elite Eight this weekend. 

Saturday can't come soon enough.