CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke coach John Scheyer offered a challenge to star recruit cameron boozer at halftime blue devils‘The season opener on Tuesday night against texasThe 6-foot-9 freshman forward was blunt, telling the phenom that he was “playing soft.”
Boozer got the message – and then proceeded to take over the game.
After failing to score in the first half, Boozer finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds – 10 of them after halftime – as the sixth-ranked Blue Devils overcame a 33–32 halftime deficit to defeat Texas. 75-60 At the Dick Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center.
“I just tried to wash it out,” Boozer said of his disappointing first half, which included missing all seven shots from the field.
Texas coach Sean Miller came away impressed and called Boozer a “one-man wrecking crew.”
“I think he’s one of the best players in the country,” Miller said. “I would have a hard time believing there’s a freshman that’s even better than him. …His rebounding ability is amazing. He had 12 defensive rebounds tonight. It’s really hard to get 12 defensive rebounds in 40 minutes in a college game.”
“And,” Miller added, “he might have a mean game going for him.”
Boozer changed the pace of the game in many ways.
He increased his physicality to get to the line 12 times in the second half and converted nine free throws. Along with his second-half double-double, he also had three assists, two steals and a block.
One play in particular stood out – when Boozer got the ball in the low post, he got away from his defender and made a layup while being fouled for a three-point play, helping Duke cut the lead to 14 points with five minutes remaining.
It’s the kind of game that has some believing Boozer, the son of former Duke great and NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, is a lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft.
“He’s just a competitor and he’s a winner, and having the ability to make that turnaround in the game is something I think a lot of people struggle with,” Scheyer said. “That’s it, it’s no easy thing.”
Miller said he liked how his team contained Boozer in the first half.
But he said Duke’s ability to spread the floor makes it difficult to defend for 40 minutes.
“The way they play, they put tremendous pressure on the defense,” Miller said. “I think you’ll generally find that the second half against Duke is tough. Because that’s all you can do for a while, but it’s like a running game in football and then the third and fourth quarters, it’s like, man, they beat you.”
