Duke forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts after making a three point basket against Arizona to end the first half of a Sweet 16 round NCAA college basketball tournament game, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)2025-03-28T04:33:30Z Follow APs full coverage of March Madness.Get the AP Top 25 mens college basketball poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Duke stud Cooper Flaggs highlight reel included a 3-pointer from just in front of the logo at the halftime buzzer, one no-look pass for an alley-oop and another for a 3, and a huge blocked shot into a row of Arizona cheerleaders.He needed all that to hold off an onslaught from the Wildcats and Dukes biggest nemesis, Caleb Love, for a 100-93 victory in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night that pushed the Blue Devils a win from the Final Four.Flaggs final line: 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three blocks. And his biggest college win yet.Thats one of the best tournament performances Ive ever coached or been a part of, said coach Jon Scheyer, who has seen plenty.Love, a thorn in Dukes side for the last five years, finished with 35 points, one short of his career high, including a streak of 15 straight for his fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-13) during a ferocious second-half run that cut a 19-point deficit to five with 1:56 left. But its the top-seeded Blue Devils (34-3) moving on. On Saturday comes a 1-vs.-2 showdown in the East Region, when Scheyers team faces Alabama, which set a March Madnessrecord for 3-pointers in a 113-88 win over BYU earlier in the evening. A win would put Duke in the Final Four for the 18th time. The last time, in 2022, Love played for North Carolina and scored 28 points to bring an end to legendary coach Mike Krzyzewskis career. This time, the 18-year-old Flagg ended Loves stay in college, and showed why he should be the top pick in the NBA draft if he decides to leave, too.What Ive wanted from him was not to defer, Scheyer said. Just wanted him to fully be him. I thought he was in his element tonight. He was loose, talking, competitive, the whole thing.Arizona chipped away at its big deficit and got within five when Carter Bryant made a 3-pointer with 1:56 left. Flagg made three of four free throws and Duke made 9 of 10 to salt away the win down the stretch.They were a machine on offense, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. Duke shot 60% from the floor and 57.9% from 3 to close out a defense-optional night at the Prudential Center in which both winners hit triple digits.The fourth-seeded Wildcats sagged and hung on the 6-foot-9 freshman and made him work for everything. But he was just better than everyone on the court.There were too many highlights to count. Here were a few: At the end of the first half, when Duke rebounded Loves missed 3, worked the ball to Flagg and he swished his own 3, then turned around and screamed Lets go, man! as he ran to the locker room with a 48-42 lead. A spinning, no-look pass to Sion James, who made an open 3 early in the second half, as part of a run that built the lead to 19. Two alley-oops, one a no-look to Khaman Maluach, the other to Kon Knueppel. A massive rejection of Arizona guard KJ Lewis into the phalanx of Arizona cheerleaders on a possession that couldve trimmed the deficit to seven with about five minutes left.It was a show that brought a close to Loves vibrant college career one he wasnt willing to see end without a fight. He missed his first three shots but finished 11 for 21 and made five 3s to keep his team in it. Hes had an amazing career and Im so excited for his future, Lloyd said. He was tremendous today. Hes going to wake up tomorrow and hes going to smile. He has a lot to look forward to and so Im really, really proud of him.Love scored seven more than he did when he shut down Coach Ks career. In this one, he got the most help from Jaden Bradley, who finished with 15 points. But the Wildcats couldnt do enough to conjure a repeat of 2011, the last time these programs met in the tournament and Arizona knocked out the top-seeded Blue Devils.Brown back for DukeMaliq Brown returned to action for the Blue Devils after sitting out two weeks with an injured shoulder. Sporting a sleeve on his left shoulder and upper arm, the junior came into the game with 7:51 left in the first half. He played four minutes and finished with a rebound and an assist. Arizona gets recruiting winArizona did get a big win earlier Thursday, when one of the nations top high school prospects, Koa Peat, said on The Pat McAfee Show that he was committing to play for the Wildcats.Peat is expected to join another top recruit, LeBron James son Bryce, in coach Tommy Lloyds program next season.___AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.