Duke basketball holds on to beat Florida. What we learned about the Blue Devils
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Caleb Foster's steal sealed 67-66 win for Duke after Florida rally.
- Cameron Boozer led Duke with 29 points; the Blue Devils finished with 11 blocks.
- Florida grabbed 20 offensive rebounds; Duke must shore up defensive rebounding.
Boogie Fland brought No. 15 Florida back from a double-digit deficit at No. 4 Duke on Tuesday night.
With the game on the line, though, Duke found a defensive answer.
His team trailing by a point, Fland dribbled into a trap with four seconds left and dribbled the ball off his foot. Duke’s Caleb Foster dived to grab the ball, allowing the Blue Devils to finish off a thrilling 67-66 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke (9-0) led by as many as 15 points in the first half and 12 at halftime, but Fland scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, including nine in the final five minutes. Fland’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left gave the Gators (5-3) a 66-64 lead.
After missing his first seven 3-point attempts in the game, Isaiah Evans answered for Duke with a 3-pointer of his own with 19.7 seconds left, putting the Blue Devils up 67-66. Florida did not call a timeout, running their offense to get the ball to Fland. But Cameron Boozer and Foster double-teamed him in front of the Gators’ bench to force the game-deciding turnover.
“I saw he was fumbling with it,” Foster said. “We did a good job of calling the (defensive) switch out. It’s win or lose right there. You see the game on the line.”
Florida had one last chance after Foster missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation, but with 1.5 seconds on the clock, All-ACC defender Maliq Brown jumped and tipped the Gators’ baseline inbounds attempt to secure the win.
Boozer led Duke with 29 points while Evans added 13. Pat Ngongba scored 11 for the Blue Devils, who shot just 37.9 in the second half to finish at 44% for the game.
Thomas Haugh led Florida with 24 points. The Gators shot 37.3%.
“I thought our guys just battled,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I’m really proud of them. It’s a great win.”
Florida took advantage of Duke’s poor second-half shooting to fight back from a 12-point halftime deficit and tie the game on Fland’s jumper with 2:37 to play.
Boozer answered for Duke, drilling a 3-pointer with 2:08 remaining giving the Blue Devils a 62-59 lead. Fland scored again and Boozer powered in side for a basket with 1:23 left giving Duke a 64-61 lead.
A pair of Alex Condon free throws drew the Gators within a point. After Ngongba missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 45 seconds left, Fland’s 3-pointer gave Florida a 66-64 lead with 35 seconds left.
Duke led by as many as 15 in the first half before taking a 36-24 halftime lead. The Blue Devils led 38-24 early in the second half when the Gators finally showed some firepower on offense.
After missing their first two shots of the half, the Gators reeled off nine consecutive points, including a driving basket from Fland and two post moves in the paint that Alex Condon converted into baskets.
Just like that, with 16:13 left in the game, Duke’s once comfortable lead had shrunk to 38-33.
Once Boozer got going offensively, Duke pushed the lead back to as many as nine. Boozer scored six consecutive points, his first points of the second half, as the Blue Devils built a 54-45 lead with 9:14 to play.
The Gators weren’t done fighting, though. While Duke scored just one field goal over the next four minutes, the Gators chipped away further. When Fland hit a jumper with 4:02 left, Duke’s lead was 59-57
Fland’s jumper with 2:37 to play tied the score at 59.
Here’s what we learned about the Blue Devils:
A new Duke starting five
A 6-11 freshman forward, Nik Khamenia came off the bench to play in each of Duke’s first eight games this season. Tuesday, he was in Duke’s starting lineup for the first time.
It proved a painful endeavor early as, with 17:37 to play, Khamenia leaped to grab a rebound and landed on Florida forward Thomas Haugh’s foot. Khamenia fell to the court in pain, holding his right ankle as he writhed. Duke’s medical staff helped him to the bench, where his right shoe was removed and his ankle taped.
Khamenia felt good enough on his ankle to return to the game with 13:14 remaining in the first half. He was sidelined for a little less than five minutes of play.
He played 12 minutes and 25 seconds against Florida, going scoreless and finishing with two rebounds.
The lineup change was the first of the season for Scheyer. The Blue Devils had used Boozer, Isaiah Evans, Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba and Dame Sarr while starting the season 8-0. Khamenia replaced Sarr in the lineup. Sarr entered the game when Khamenia was injured.
Scheyer said he wanted to help Sarr and Khamenia by changing their roles slightly.
“I thought for both guys, just trying to get them both going, that’s really what it came down to,” Scheyer said. “You’re trying to figure out lineups, you’re trying to figure out timing of the subbing and all that.
“I believe in those guys in a big way, and that’s really what’s behind it. I got to help them more.”
Duke struggled to keep Gators off offensive glass
Florida missed so many shots in the first half it gave the Gators plenty of chances to grab offensive rebounds. To Duke’s chagrin, they did it. Even in the second half, when Florida shot better, Duke struggled to complete defensive possessions by grabbing rebounds.
Florida corralled 20 offensive rebounds in the game, which allowed the Gators to outscore Duke 15-8 on second-chance points.
Condon grabbed six offensive rebounds for Florida, while Reuben Chinyelu had four.
That’s a concern for Duke, as the Blue Devils head north this weekend to play at No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday. The Spartans are one of the nation’s top offensive rebounding teams this season. They’ve rebounded 42.4% of their misses, good for No. 8 nationally according to KenPom.com.
Duke block party
While the Blue Devils gave Florida plenty of second-chance opportunities, they made up for it with excellent rim protection. Duke finished with 11 blocked shots, two off its season high for a game. Ngongba and Evans each have five blocks for Duke.
Late first-half surge propelled Duke
The teams played nip-and-tuck early, with neither leading by more than three points over the game’s first 12 minutes.
That changed for the rest of the half as Boozer got cooking on offense and Florida’s shooting went ice cold against the Blue Devils’ pressure defense.
Duke went on a 17-2 run as Florida made just 1 of 13 shots during a brutal stretch of offense for the Gators.
Meanwhile, Boozer scored seven points during that run, part of his 16-point first half. His basket inside with 1:04 left in the first half gave the Blue Devils a 36-21 lead, which proved to be their largest of the game.
Florida shot 28.6% in the first half, making only 10 of 35 shots. That included 3 of 16 on 3-pointers.
That changed in the second half, however.
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 10:07 PM.