Cameron Boozer poured in 27 points as No. 6 Duke used a second-half comeback to defeat No. 20 Louisville 84-73 on Tuesday night in Louisville, Ky.
Boozer, the freshman phenom, tied his season-best field goal percentage by sinking 10 of 12 shots from the floor as the Blue Devils (14-1, 3-0 ACC) won their third straight game.
Boozer added eight rebounds and four assists. Isaiah Evans had 23 points and six rebounds for Duke, while Caleb Foster chipped in 20 points.
Ryan Conwell powered the Cardinals (11-4, 1-2) with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Aly Khalifa tossed in 17 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting and Adrian Wooley had 11.
Mikel Brown Jr. — who averages 16.6 points and 5.1 assists per game — missed his fifth consecutive game for Louisville with a back injury.
Louisville led by as many as 12 points in the first half and were ahead by nine points entering halftime. Powering the Cardinals’ offense early on was Khalifa, who began the game shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point land. The senior center was previously 5-of-18 from deep range on the season.
For the first 16 minutes of the game, all of Duke’s baskets were scored by Boozer and Evans. Until Caleb Foster’s floater with 3:58 to play, the Blue Devils not named Boozer or Evans were a combined 0-of-9 from the floor.
The Blue Devils played a second half that featured much more togetherness and cohesion, opening it with an 18-6 run to take the lead. That stretch was bookended by dunks from Foster.
Later in the half, Duke broke off a 15-4 run to take a 13-point advantage. That surge was highlighted by Boozer tossing up a nifty alley-oop for Patrick Ngongba, who played just 10 minutes after falling into foul trouble by picking up a first-half technical.
The Blue Devils outscored the Cardinals 40-26 in the paint and netted 16 points off 14 Louisville turnovers.
Duke has now won eight consecutive games against Louisville.
–Field Level Media
