CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During their march from the Spectrum Center concourse back to their seats, hands full of hazy IPAs, hot dogs and overcooked chicken tenders, many fans in attendance for Tuesday’s season-opening tilt between Texas and No. 6 Duke missed what they came for:
Cameron Boozer’s first college point.
Now, given Boozer’s dominance in two exhibitions against UCF and Tennessee, it was only natural to assume the five-star forward would similarly explode out of the gate in the Blue Devils’ official debut, an eventual 75-60 Duke victory. Maybe not quite a 20-20 effort like he dropped on the Vols, or a 30-burger like he posted against UCF, but surely something memorable.
Instead, an early missed 3-pointer turned into two. Then three. Layups that the top-3 recruit has been making since middle school suddenly, strangely, clanking off the rim and out. Boozer even front-rimmed a free throw, looking back at coach Jon Scheyer in confusion immediately afterward. In one of the stranger halves of Scheyer’s tenure, there was no bigger anomaly than Boozer’s halftime stat line: Zero points on 0-of-7 shooting, 0-of-3 from 3, with almost as many fouls (two) as rebounds (three).
In the halftime locker room, Scheyer found the 6 feet 9, 250-pounder and delivered a not-so-subtle message — one he’s previously reserved for his best players, like Cooper Flagg and Dereck Lively II.
Call it his go-to word for lighting necessary fires.
“He said I played soft in the first half, which was true,” Boozer said. “I wasn’t going to the rim to finish, to put guys in the rim. Second half, I changed that.”
Clearly. Not only did Boozer’s 15 second-half points and 10 second-half rebounds ensure he left his first college contest with a double-double, but more importantly, they were the driving force behind Duke’s victory. He finished shooting 3 of 12, with 13 rebounds and three steals in all. (Apologies to any fans who missed Boozer’s first career points, two free throws 30 seconds into the second half.)
CFos –> CAM 🔨 (ESPN) pic.twitter.com/ua9Dek2qiQ
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 5, 2025
The last time Boozer had a scoreless half? Sometime in high school, allegedly, hard as that is to believe.
“I’m not going to say when that was, though,” he added, grinning.
Scheyer would obviously have loved for Boozer to continue the sort of steamrolling excellence he showcased in the preseason (averaging 28.5 points, 17.5 rebounds and five assists per game). But maybe it isn’t the worst thing that Duke had to learn how to excel without Boozer.
Maybe it’s actually a net positive that Duke, in its very first game, had to prove it’s more than Cam Boozer and company.
“I don’t need to really say a lot about Duke, because I think they were really good last year and had a chance to win it,” Sean Miller, coaching his first game at Texas, said postgame. “I think they’re going to be really good this year, and they’re gonna have a chance to win it.”
After Tuesday night, it’s apparent that’s as much because of Boozer as it is the rest of the talent stockpiled on Scheyer’s roster.
Take Isaiah Evans, for instance, the sophomore sharpshooter who turned down a potential first-round draft spot to return to Durham. Even on last season’s roster with Flagg and Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Tyrese Proctor, it was actually Evans who was statistically the Blue Devils’ best 3-point shooter, nailing 41.6 percent of his triples. (Had he played enough minutes to register, that would’ve been a top-10 mark nationally amongst high-major players.)
With Boozer struggling early, the North Carolina native — who played high school ball 10 miles from Spectrum Center, who won the ACC championship in this very same building eight months ago — wasted no time proving he’s still a human flamethrower. After Duke mustered only 3 points in the first 6:49 of the game, Evans got free on a flare screen to the left wing and let a 3-pointer rip almost directly in front of Miller.
Nothing but net.
A minute and 14 seconds later, another.
Fifty-one seconds later, another.
In just over four minutes, Duke’s best microwave scorer poured in 14 of his game- and career-high 23 points, buoying a listless offense and giving the Blue Devils some breathing room.
Last season, it was Knueppel — who went No. 4 to the Charlotte Hornets in June’s NBA Draft — flying off those flare screens and punishing defenses from deep. It took Evans less than a half to unofficially stake his claim to the same action: “It’s like a really good play for me, honestly.”
Or if not Evans, then it was someone else picking up the slack — like graduate center Maliq Brown, who missed most of the summer recovering from knee and shoulder ailments. Brown fouled out in just 13 minutes, but per usual, his defensive versatility was integral to Duke holding Texas to just 32.2 percent shooting overall.
And if not Brown, then junior point guard Caleb Foster, arguably the most pivotal player on this roster. Foster struggled in the first half — at one point even committing a blatant frustration foul after a missed bunny — but rebounded nicely in the second, hitting a huge elbow jumper with 9:05 to play that stymied a 7-0 Texas run and put Duke up multiple possessions, for good.
“We stepped up and made big-time winning plays,” Scheyer said. “Those are the kinds of games we’re going to have to be in, and have to figure out ways to win.”
But naturally, when you’re getting contributions up and down your lineup, and then Boozer comes in as a human battering ram? That does tend to make life easier, and bode well for the Blue Devils’ lofty aspirations of making it back to the Final Four — and this time, finishing the job.
“For Cam, first game as a freshman, doesn’t have his best stuff, he comes out the second half and has 15 and 13 — on an off night,” Scheyer said. “Not bad at all. Not bad at all.”
