Arizona basketball's Tommy Lloyd makes 'machine' admission about prolific Duke offense

03/28/2025 11:19 AM

Arizona basketball was in a battle with Duke in the Sweet 16, but they were not able to get the win, losing 100-93. The Wildcats pulled out everything they could, but at the end of the day, the juggernaut of the Blue Devils was too much to overcome. After the game, head coach Tommy Lloyd was real about the Duke team they faced.

“They were a machine on offense. We just couldn’t get enough stops,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd was not wrong about them being a machine, and they’ve been showing it since the start of the tournament, according to Jared Berson.

“Duke is the 2nd team to score 1.4 points per possession in consecutive Tournament games over the last 15 years, joining 2016 UNC in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight. 1.5 PPP vs Baylor and 1.41 tonight,” Berson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Duke led by nearly 20 points during one point in the second half, but Arizona continued to fight back and cut their deficit down by as much as seven points. Caleb Love tried to reel his team back into the game, as he finished with 35 points, shooting 11-for-21 from the field and 5-for-11 from three.

It was Cooper Flagg that was the main problem for Arizona, as he finished with 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three blocks. After the game, Flagg gave credit to Arizona and the way they played all night.

"We knew coming into this it was going to be an absolute battle, they can just compete really, really hard," Flagg said. "It’s just about staying with strong faces and just doing what we do."

Though they weren’t able to get the win, Lloyd is still proud of how his team competed.

“For us to hang in there and give ourselves a chance to make a run in the NCAA Tournament really says a lot about the character of the guys we have in the locker room,” Lloyd said.

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