NEW YORK CITY — The scene played on a loop. The ball would find Cameron Boozer in the post. Excitement would build inside Madison Square Garden. Nineteen thousand fans would look on, eager to see what Duke’s freshman phenom could do. Then the big man immediately would be double-teamed.
The message was clear: If No. 24 Kansas was going to lose to No. 5 Duke in the nightcap of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, it wasn’t going to be because of Boozer. At least not because of his scoring.
And the strategy worked. Sort of. The Jayhawks – who were without their sensational freshman, Darryn Peterson, because of a hamstring injury – slowed Boozer, holding the bruising 6-foot-9 forward to 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting. But the Blue Devils relied on a balanced attack — and Boozer’s impressive passing — to carry them to a 78-66 victory as they improved to 5-0.
“I’m really proud of our win tonight,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I thought that it was the epitome of our team that all nine guys scored (and) all nine guys made big contributions.”
The shorthanded Jayhawks trailed for much of the game, but they hung tough. Six-foot-7 senior guard Tre White (22 points), 6-foot-4 senior wing Melvin Council Jr. (15 points) and 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Flory Bidunga (14 points) were relentless attacking the basket. But whenever the Jayhawks would put a dent in Duke’s lead, getting as close as three (67-64) with just under five minutes remaining, the Blue Devils had an answer.
Sometimes it was the highly touted Boozer. Other times it was his 6-foot-4 twin Cayden, who scored seven points in the second half, including back-to-back buckets during a mini-push by Kansas. Other times it was 6-foot-6 sophomore sharpshooter Isaiah Evans, who finished with 16 points and nailed a dagger 3-pointer at the 3:49 mark to give Duke a 72-64 advantage.
The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle 41-30, with eight players grabbing at least three boards (led by Cameron Boozer’s 10). Their defense held Kansas to 43.3 percent shooting from the field and 19.0 percent from 3-point range. Their bench pitched in 18 points, while Kansas got just 5 from their reserves (all courtesy of 6-foot-5 senior guard Jayden Dawson). They also limited their turnovers, committing a season-low eight, with just two in the final 25 minutes.
“I thought we showed great resiliency,” Scheyer said. “(There was) real game pressure on us, and we found a way to get stops. I thought the key was our defensive rebounding — that’s been an issue we’ve had to address. Our guys did that, held them to single digit (offensive) rebounds. We valued the ball in the second half. That’s a big deal. And then guys making key offensive plays, finding a way to score, which wasn’t easy. It’s never going to be easy against Kansas.”
All eyes were on Cameron Boozer, the projected No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft (per Hoops HQ’s latest mock). He entered the game leading the Blue Devils in scoring (22.5), rebounds (10.2), assists (4.2) and blocks (1.8). In a 100-62 rout of Indiana State on Friday, he put up 35 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals, joining Zion Williamson and Christian Laettner as just the third Duke player in the past 45 years to record at least 35 points in a double-double performance.
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“I actually thought we guarded him pretty well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “When we screwed up, it seemed like he made us pay. If you miss a blockout, he’ll make you pay. If we screwed up a trap on the post, which we did a few times, he’ll make you pay out of that. He’s a good player, and the thing that I think he does really well is pass.”
Indeed, Boozer flashed his impressive playmaking ability, recording a team-high five assists. When he attracted multiple defenders, he calmly surveyed the floor and found the open man. He threw dump-down passes to frontcourt mates Patrick Ngongba, a 6-foot-11 sophomore who had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Maliq Brown, a 6-foot-9 senior who added five points and three rebounds. He fired crosscourt and kick-out passes to shooters like Evans and 6-foot-8 freshman Dame Sarr (six points). On one possession, he located his twin all alone behind the arc for a 3-pointer, which extended Duke’s lead to 10.
Throughout the contest, Cameron trusted his teammates — and they delivered. The ball moved around the court until the Blue Devils were able to create a good look or draw a foul. “I actually thought their execution, ball movement and all that stuff was better this time this year than it was last year at this time,” Self said.
That is quite a compliment, considering last season’s Duke squad finished 35-4 and reached the national semifinal. The 2025-26 Blue Devils still have things to clean up, but as Tuesday night reaffirmed, this is a complete team — not just one superstar or five starters — with the pieces to make another deep run in March.
“I think these guys have done a great job playing for each other, being ready when their moments (are) called,” Scheyer said. “We may start a certain way (with the lineup). That can be an evolution. But also finishing can be a different way. Because we have a real team. We don’t just have five players. We have a real team.”
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