Duke basketball and Arizona play Thursday (9:39 p.m., CBS) in the East Region of the 2025 men's NCAA Tournament.

Cooper Flagg and the top-seeded Blue Devils (33-3) dominated their first two March Madness opponents, beating Mount St. Mary's and Baylor by an average margin of 33.5 points to secure a spot in the Sweet 16. Former UNC guard Caleb Love and the fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-12) rallied from an early 15-point deficit to beat Oregon in the round of 32.

Duke and Arizona will play the second Sweet 16 game on Thursday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. No. 2 seed Alabama (27-8) and No. 6 seed BYU (26-9) tip things off at 7:09 p.m. in New Jersey. The two winners will play Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

The Blue Devils have a 5-6 record in the all-time series against the Wildcats, but Duke earned a 14-point win in Tucson earlier this season. The teams have split a pair of March Madness matchups.

Here are some players to watch, odds and a score prediction for Sweet 16 matchup between the Blue Devils and Wildcats.

Caleb Love will face Duke for a 10th and final time on Thursday. In nine games against Duke, Love has averaged 15.8 points on 37.6% shooting, with a 5-4 record. But the numbers have shifted since Duke guard Tyrese Proctor arrived on campus ahead of the 2022-23 season. In the last four games against the Blue Devils, with Proctor as the primary defender, Love has averaged 10.5 points on 28% shooting. But Love's best game against the Blue Devils came in March Madness as he dropped 28 points, including a dagger 3-pointer, in Coach K's final game as Duke's coach at the 2022 Final Four. Love is coming off a 29-point game against Oregon and Proctor is on a heater of his own after making 13 3-pointers in the first two tournament games. Proctor vs. Love is the key matchup in the Sweet 16 showdown. It won't lack trash talk.

Arizona didn't have an answer for Cooper Flagg in Tucson. The Duke freshman scored 16 of his 24 points after halftime and didn't face much resistance. Tobe Awaka, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward for the Wildcats, seems likely to draw the assignment on Flagg. Awaka is coming off a 12-point, 14-rebound game against Oregon. Carter Bryant, a 6-foot-8 freshman, and 6-foot-6 senior Trey Townsend could also see time against Flagg. No matter who it is, they'll have a tough time containing the Blue Devils star. Flagg is averaging 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists through two March Madness games. Those rebounding numbers will be key against a Wildcat crew that is 16th in offensive rebounding rate (36.1%). Duke had 30 defensive rebounds and limited Arizona to six offensive boards in the first meeting.

Sion James came off the bench in Duke's road game at Arizona. Over the last 29 games, James has been in the starting lineup, with the Blue Devils winning 28 of those matchups. As a defender, James has consistently had a knack for getting through and over screens. That'll be important against Arizona, which has a host of guards. In addition to Love, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis are the top playmakers for the Wildcats. That duo combined for 30 points in the regular-season game against Duke. Bradley is averaging 15.5 points, with five steals in the tournament. He had five steals against the Blue Devils in November.

Game lines and odds from BetMGM will be posted as they become available.

Duke 82, Arizona 70: These aren't the same teams that faced each other in November. Duke and Arizona have improved in different ways with different lineups, but the Blue Devils have elevated to a level that has them playing like the favorite to cut down the nets in San Antonio.

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