When your team wins a game at the buzzer, the whole arena goes crazy. But when that win comes against the defending champions, and your “new” best player is responsible for it — well it cannot get any better than that.
That’s exactly what the fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium lived through Monday, as Cameron Boozer’s heroic pass lifted Duke to a dramatic victory against the defending national champion Florida Gators.
It did not look like Boozer’s heroics would be needed as Florida trailed by as many as 15 points but fought all the way back, eventually taking the lead with just 32 seconds left on the clock. With Duke trailing 66–64 in the final seconds, everyone inside Cameron Indoor Stadium knew the ball would end up with projected lottery pick Cameron Boozer. Florida sent two defenders at Boozer, and instead of forcing a hero shot, he made the right basketball play by making a simple pass out to Isaiah Evans, who buried the game-winning three.
Cameron Boozer
This win pushed Duke to a 9-0 start, and Cameron Boozer looks every bit like the type of prospect NBA teams dream about. He dropped 29 points, six rebounds, and two assists on 10-of-21 shooting, continuing his remarkable early-season form. In his last three games, Boozer has dropped 26 against Howard, 35 against Arkansas, and now 29 more against Florida.
His 90 points over the last three games mark a Duke freshman record for a three-game stretch, and it shows just how special he’s been for the Blue Devils. It looks like head coach Jon Scheyer already found a Cooper Flagg replacement.
Boozer has been leading Duke from the start, averaging a team-high 22.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. And if he keeps playing at this level, he could be the one to finally bring a long-awaited national championship back to Duke, something the program hasn’t done since Coach K lifted the trophy in 2015.
