Duke vs. Arizona (78-73)

 Caleb Love made one last memory against Duke basketball.

The second-ranked Blue Devils and No. 12 Arizona played a classic in a game that featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes, but the Wildcats made winning plays down the stretch in a 78-73 victory Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

“The thing about this game though, you learn so much more about yourself playing in it. It’s a great reality check," said Duke coach Jon Scheyer, who lost for the first time at Cameron after winning 17 straight home games.

"Even if we won this game, there’s a lot that we can clean up and do better. For me, as long as I’m coaching, as long as I’m competing, I will always hate losing. That’s me as a competitor, but I also know that I’m thankful for this opportunity. Playing a team like Arizona, playing them this early in the year, I think it’s a great thing for our program."

Arizona won the tip and only took five seconds to get to the rim as Kylan Boswell made the long pass to Oumar Ballo under the rim, who hesitated to force sophomore center Kyle Filipowski’s hand before going up for the easy dunk. The Blue Devils missed their first two shots  — a 3-point attempt each by Mark Mitchell and Filipowski — letting the Wildcats jump out to a 4-0 lead. Duke cooled down again towards the end of the half, seeing its deficit grow to a sustained six points.

 Michigan State suffered a stunning 79-76 upset in overtime against James Madison in its season opener. Still, the week mostly featured a series of appetizers for what's ahead this weekend and next week with the Champions Classic in Chicago. Before the latter, however, No. 2 Duke and No. 12 Arizona will play the most pivotal nonconference matchup to date. More on that later.

With this season's matchups, I'll sprinkle in some picks (odds via ESPN BET). I'm not an oddsmaker, or even a gambling expert -- just a guy who loves college basketball and watches and analyzes a ton of games.

Although college basketball began Monday, the next five days will offer the league's first full slate of high-level games. Enjoy it.

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Sarah H

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