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NEWARK, N.J. — In an NCAA Tournament with more chalk than usual, the East Region will come down to the top two seeds.

After Mark Sears’ shooting put Alabama in the Elite Eight, Cooper Flagg did plenty of scoring and a little of everything else to lift Duke.

The freshman star tallied 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three blocks as the top-seeded Blue Devils survived fourth-seeded Arizona 100-93 in a Sweet 16 thriller on Thursday.

“That was one of the best tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of Flagg. “He just did what he was supposed to do, and he’ll move on and get ready for Alabama. I think that’s the beauty of it with him. He doesn’t get caught up in all that.”

The Blue Devils (34-3) made 13 consecutive shots from the floor, including their first nine of the second half, to leap ahead before fending off a valiant Arizona comeback spearheaded by Caleb Love.

Kon Knueppel scored 20 points, Sion James 16 and Khaman Maluach 13 for the Blue Devils. That trio combined on 16-for-21 shooting from the floor, fueling Duke’s 60 percent night (33 of 55).

Love, an NCAA Tournament stalwart at both North Carolina and Arizona, scored a season-high 35 points in his final college game. Jaden Bradley contributed 15 and Henri Veesaar added 13 for the Wildcats (24-13), who couldn’t keep up despite making 12 3-pointers.

“I just want to thank each and every one of my teammates and my coaches,” Love said, “sticking with me as a person, first and foremost, because I went through a lot transferring from my other school. They took me under their wing and they accepted me for who I was. … Without them I wouldn’t be here, and I wouldn’t be the player that I’ve grown to be.”

Arizona trailed 70-51 with 13:12 to go, but Love willed them back by pouring in 15 straight Wildcats points, converting from the paint, the arc and the foul line.

Arizona clawed within seven at the 4:45 mark when Love’s baseline cut resulted in an easy dunk, and Carter Bryant’s corner trey made it 91-86 with 1:56 to go. Flagg drew a foul when KJ Lewis pushed him to the ground, and the likely No. 1 overall draft pick converted both free throws to restore Duke’s seven-point edge.

The Wildcats managed three more buckets in the final 33 seconds, but Duke took care of business at the foul line to ice it.

Arizona enjoyed an early 15-10 lead but missed its next eight shots in a row. Tyrese Proctor, Isaiah Evans and Knueppel made triples to forge an 11-0 run and a seven-point Duke advantage.

The Wildcats tied it four times in the first but never pushed in front. In the final minute of the half, Knueppel answered Love’s game-tying 3-pointer with a trey of his own, then Flagg pulled up from 25 feet to beat the buzzer and deliver the Blue Devils a 48-42 lead.

“We were going through a little struggle at the end of that first half of coming up with the defensive rebounds,” Flagg said. “A huge rebound for (Mason Gillis) at the end of the half to close it out. He hit me on the run. Just went up and made a shot.”

Duke soon grabbed its first double-digit advantage when James’ corner triple made it 56-44 with 17:41 to play.

Maluach was the centerpiece of the 13-for-13 run, and three of his five shots in that span were alley-oop dunks lobbed up by Flagg or Proctor. However, he, Knueppel and Patrick Ngongba II had to deal with foul trouble during the second half. Each spent time playing with four fouls with several minutes to go, and only Ngongba fouled out.

“Look, we’ve built up an entire season of trust and teaching,” Scheyer said. “And the lessons we’ve learned to — really everything we’ve done from the offseason, from April 1 to now, has led to being mentally tough, physically tough and together for these moments.

“I thought our guys showed that poise. I think they showed that togetherness.”

Scheyer and Duke next must deal with an Alabama team that broke NCAA Tournament records with 25 3-pointers on 51 attempts in its 113-88 win over BYU.

“I see they scored 113 points. That’s a heck of a performance,” Scheyer said. “We know it’s going to be a big-time challenge on Saturday, but we’ll be preparing all night.”

–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media