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DURHAM, N.C. — While discussing one of the biggest regular-season wins in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ basketball history Friday, coach Tommy Lloyd quickly tried to douse it with perspective.

You don’t get a trophy for winning your second game, he said. His aim wasn’t to win all his games in November, he added, as much as the ones in March and April.

That’s understandable, of course. College basketball seasons are defined almost entirely in the postseason.

But they actually do give out trophies and accolades for early-season games, and Lloyd keeps racking them up.

Trophies like the Las Vegas Main Event championship “belt,� in Lloyd’s first season of 2021-22, when the Wildcats knocked off Wichita State in overtime and then upset Michigan in something of a coming-out party for Lloyd and center Christian Koloko.

Or the Maui Invitational trophy, which the Wildcats took off the island last season after Oumar Ballo led them to wins over Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton in successive days leading up to Thanksgiving.

And while there was indeed no trophy given out Friday, after ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ beat No. 2-ranked Duke 78-73 before a rowdy full house at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Wildcats received an avalanche of social media buzz, including a “fireâ€� emoji from ESPN and recognition from StatsPerform that Lloyd is the first Division I coach to beat a Top 3 opponent in each of his first three seasons.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s own X (Twitter) account tweeted about the Wildcats’ “massive W," too.

So, plenty of Love — with Caleb, who hit four game-clinching free throws in the final 17 seconds — and otherwise for a team that is now 13-0 under Lloyd in November.

Undefeated.

Maybe that means the Wildcats, as they used to be long ago under Lute Olson, come out of the gate on fire most seasons. Maybe they bond quickly to Lloyd’s preseason instruction. Or maybe, this season, the Wildcats’ summer practices and foreign exhibition tour gave them a head start that is now paying off.

Whatever the case, Lloyd wasn’t too interested in exploring those possibilities. He often says he’s just a “day-to-day� guy who doesn’t like hypotheticals or looking far ahead or at the big picture.

“We just won a 40-minute game that was hard-fought, and you know me,� Lloyd said.

Then Lloyd shook off the notion that maybe he’s somehow able to get his guys more energized in the early season, ready to go for the big stage immediately maybe more than others.

“I mean, listen: If you're not energized today, you got problems,� Lloyd said after the Duke game. “I don’t want to overthink that. My goal is to win all our games in March and April. That's really my goal. I don't have a November little checklist on my thing to win all my games in November.

“I'm glad we're winning. It's better than losing. But it's not anything more than that.�

Lloyd had a point. Besides, he needed only to look across the court to see constant reminders of what’s really important in college basketball: Opposite the team benches, student fans held up poster cards provided by the Duke student newspaper, The Chronicle, screaming the word “PRINCETON.�

It was a not-so-subtle reminder that, when it really mattered last March, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ became only the 11th team in NCAA tournament history to lose to a No. 15 seed in the first round.

After that game, in which the Wildcats’ seven-player rotation notably wore down, Lloyd said he spent the offseason pondering how he could increase the Wildcats’ margin for error. He also aimed for more toughness, as he had since UA was punched out of the NCAA Sweet 16 by Houston in 2022.

Then he recruited to fill the roster with talent and toughness.

Not surprisingly, then, toughness was what he talked about far more in his postgame address than fleeting November success.

The Wildcats had gone into one of college basketball’s toughest arenas to pull out a win, sure, but they did so in a manner that can win all sorts of games at all sorts of places against all sorts of teams.

They outrebounded Duke 45-33, scoring 13 second-chance points off 15 offensive rebounds. They held the Blue Devils to 43.1% shooting on their home floor. They went to the free-throw line six more times than the Blue Devils. They blocked five Duke shots.

“We were just trying to be the toughest,� forward Keshad Johnson said. “We were trying to get our team extra possessions on the offensive glass. (Duke big men) Ryan Young and (Kyle) Filipowski, they gave us a good fight. But we just know that when we’ve got our brothers’ backs, we're gonna come out on top.�

All five UA starters scored in double figures, putting Love in position to essentially win the game on an otherwise rough night, with Johnson and guard Kylan Boswell each pulling down eight rebounds. Wing Pelle Larsson had another six rebounds, while also hitting both free throws he took in the final seconds, and center Oumar Ballo had five rebounds.

“We're built for it,� Lloyd said. “I mean, look at our bodies. We got some dogs, and they played like it. You have Pelle and Oumar. And Caleb’s played really well defensively. Then Kylan and Jaden (Bradley) and KJ (Lewis). I mean, that’s some dudes right there.�

The same dudes, Lloyd hopes, that will be just as tough and connected in March.