Cameron Boozer’s monster performance lifts Duke basketball to rout of Stanford
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- Cameron Boozer scored 30 and grabbed 14 rebounds, fueling Duke’s 80-50 rout.
- Duke forced turnovers and shot 56%, building a 35-19 halftime lead.
- Stanford managed 29% shooting and 12 first-half turnovers, losing momentum.
Cameron Boozer wasn’t happy with a four-point, three-rebound first half in his previous game. So he took it out on Stanford.
Boozer outscored the Cardinal by himself in the first half as No. 6 Duke dominated Stanford 80-50 on Saturday in its first trip to Maples Pavilion.
The freshman forward had 30 points and 14 rebounds – including 20 points and nine rebounds at halftime as the Blue Devils (17-1, 6-0 ACC) led 35-19.
“Part of what makes him special isn’t even the 30 and 14,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “It’s that he didn’t love how he played in the last game, so he was wired to come out the next game and go dominate. That was a big reason why we got off to a good start, because his competitive level was there right away, at the highest level.”
The game matched the top two scorers in the ACC in Boozer (22.8 points per game) and Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie (22.9), who had scored 36 with nine assists in an upset win over North Carolina on Wednesday.
But in the opening minutes Saturday, Boozer had the first six points of the game on three inside moves, while Okorie had two turnovers and a driving lay-up attempt blocked by Dame Sarr.
“Last game, I feel like I started a little bit slow,” Boozer said. “That’s been the thing for me. Just coming out and being the aggressor.”
Boozer finished 12 of 17 from the field, including 2 of 3 from behind the arc, and added three assists and three steals. Isaiah Evans scored 15 points and Patrick Ngongba added 13 as Duke shot 56 percent.
Okorie, who had scored in double digits in every game but one this season, had nine points on 3 of 9 shooting, with one assist and four turnovers.
“Okorie is a terrific player, Scheyer said. “His ability not just score but create -- when a guy has 36 and 9 we need to focus on him. We’re fortunate to have a big-time defender in Dame Sarr. It wasn’t about shutting him out just about making him work, and I thought collectively we did a great job bringing the fight to him, so to speak.”
Stanford had beaten Top 20 teams Louisville and UNC at Maples earlier this month and had won its last four home games against ranked opponents
But after scoring 95 points Wednesday against UNC, the Cardinal (14-5, 3-3) had more turnovers (eight) than points (seven) after 12 minutes as Duke led 21-7.
The Cardinal closed to within 27-19 with four minutes left in the half, but Duke closed with eight straight points and even forced a shot clock violation when Stanford called a late timeout to set up a play.
The Cardinal scored on its opening possession of the second half, bringing some life to the crowd, but Stanford then committed a flagrant foul on Ngongba. Ngongba made both free throws and then scored on an alley-oop from Sarr for a four-point possession that put Duke back up by 18.
The lead never dropped below 16 after that, and the only suspense was whether Boozer would remain in the game long enough to surpass his season high in points (35) or rebounds (15).
“(Duke) seemed unfazed,” Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. “I thought we could get a little something, but Boozer would just make a play to squelch it, like “Not today boys.” One time he poked a 3 right after we scored, and it was like, ‘Give me a break.’”
After holding Cal to its season low in points (56) on Wednesday, Duke limited the Cardinal to 50 points on 35 percent shooting.
“We thought on this trip we could discover who we are,” Sarr said. “We wanted to change the energy during practice, during games. Today we had that great start, so I think we’re growing.”
The Blue Devils achieved a rare feat this week, becoming only the second team since Stanford and Cal joined the ACC last season to win both legs of the West Coast swing. Duke has now won 28 of its last 29 conference games.
“We knew it was hard to come out here to get two wins,” Scheyer said. “So for us, we viewed it as a challenge, and I’m really proud of the guys for their maturity, their preparation, and not just get the win but also grow and get better.”
It marked the first time that the Blue Devils had played at Cal or Stanford, and both games were sellouts.
This story was originally published January 17, 2026 at 8:15 PM.