In the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-off, No. 6 Duke (6-2) fell to No. 4 Arizona (7-0) 72-66. The Blue Devils struggled to score against the bigger, more physical Wildcats and got worn down by Arizona's interior depth in the second half, suffering their second early-season loss to a high-profile opponent this season.
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
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Compete on the glass: The Blue Devils struggled offensively because of Arizona's size, but they were able to successfully compete on the glass. Duke was outrebounded 36-29, but there were a lot of Blue Devil misses for the Wildcats to grab and Duke still snagged 11 offensive rebounds to Arizona's eight.
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Keep the Wildcats off the charity stripe: For the most part, the rule changes that have plagued college basketball this season did not affect Friday's contest and Duke was able to keep the Wildcats off the charity stripe. Even with a flurry of late attempts, Arizona attempted 26 free throws to Duke's 18. The difference in the free-throw battle was not the result of a disparity attempts—just as in the Kansas game, the Blue Devils were unable to capitalize from the charity stripe, going 12-of-18 and missing multiple front ends of one-and-ones. The Wildcats went 21-of-26, even with two late misses.
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Fast start offensively: Duke was unable to capitalize on its quickness advantage early in the contest, and the game was a hard-fought battle from the outset. The Blue Devils got of to a decent start, but Arizona was not phased and forced Duke to attempt a number of jump shots early in the contest, making sure that the Blue Devils could not establish an early lead. Duke's mediocre start was reflected in the shooting of its best player—freshman forward Jabari Parker started the game 1-of-7 from the field.
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13:51, second half: Junior point guard Quinn Cook swishes a 3-pointer to give Duke a 43-37 lead, the Blue Devils' largest of the game. The 3-pointer came after a great defensive possession and beautiful fast break execution and was one of the few Duke offensive highlights in the contest. Furthermore, this play showed some of the main lessons the Blue Devils need to take away from the loss—Cook needs to be consistently aggressive with his shot and Duke needs to further emphasize pushing the pace against college basketball's elite.
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6:14, second half: Redshirt sophomore forward Rodney Hood ends a 20-5 Arizona run with a huge 3-pointer after a timeout to get the Blue Devils within six. The play was one of the few times that Duke was able to cleanly execute and reverse the ball against stifling Arizona defense in the second half. Hood's clutch shot also briefly gave Duke momentum, though the Blue Devils were ultimately unable to back up his shot with disciplined defense and eventually gave up another big run.
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1:32, second half: After two free throws Hood and a three-point-play by Parker after a magnificent dish by Cook, the Blue Devils had found new life and were within five with plenty of time left in the contest. After Wildcat freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed two free throws, Duke had a chance to make it a one possession game after trailing by 10 with 2:24 left. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils committed a cardinal sin and could not box out after the free throws and were unable to corral the rebound, losing it out-of-bounds and giving the Wildcats another full possession, effectively ending their realistic comeback hopes.
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Duke shoots 4-of-16 from 3-point land: Everyone knows the old adage: you live by the three, you die by the three. The Blue Devils died by the three Friday, too many times refusing to move the ball and penetrate and instead settling for tough long-range attempts. Duke's shot selection is understandable considering its proficiency from beyond the arc so far this season, but against superior competition with athletes capable of contesting perimeter shots, the Blue Devils have to have better halfcourt execution to take advantage of their quickness.
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Jabari Parker goes 7-of-21 from the field and commits five turnovers: It is hard to criticize the man who fuels Duke's offense, especially in a game in which he got Arizona's forwards in significant foul trouble, but Parker clearly struggled for the first time this season. The Wildcats did a tremendous job swarming the freshman phenom and contested his shots well with their length. Parker has been a man on a mission this season but looked awfully human against the Wildcats.
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Arizona has 18 assists on 23 field goals: The Blue Devils were unable to significantly affect Wildcat guards T.J. McConnell and Nick Johnson with any pressure defense, allowing the Wildcats to frequently get whatever they wanted out of their offensive sets. Arizona displayed a balanced attack, with all five starters in double figures, and showed better ball movement than the Blue Devils, who had just 11 assists on 25 made field goals.
Against Kansas, Hood was extremely passive and looked like a completely different player. This was not the case against the Wildcats. He made Duke's first basket of the game and was frequently a catalyst for the Blue Devils on both ends of the court, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting and grabing eight rebounds. Like Parker, Hood can take a huge step with his game if he can get better as a facilitator, but against Arizona, he was Duke's best player.
And the Arizona game ball goes to... Nick Johnson
Although McConnell was the floor general that engineered the Wildcat attack, Johnson made several huge plays on both ends of the court that changed the game. He was all over the court in the final frame, making two 3-pointers, frequently penetrating to break down Duke's defense and swarming Parker and Hood and coming up with timely steals and blocks. He finished with 15 points, two rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks and was the X-factor in the second half. While most people focus on freshman forward Aaron Gordon, who also made a few nice plays in the second half for Arizona, Johnson is the real go-to-guy of this year's squad—he lived up to his role against the Blue Devils.
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