How an ‘efficient’ Cam Boozer helped Duke move past loss to UNC with win at Pitt
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- After UNC setback, Boozer posted 17 points and 10 rebounds at Pitt.
- Coach Scheyer praised Boozer’s efficiency, passing out of doubles and dependability.
- Boozer said he refocused on Pitt and they didn’t look ahead to Clemson.
The chant began in the second half of Duke’s game Tuesday against Pittsburgh.
“Over-rated, over-rated.”
Granted, the No. 4 Blue Devils had not been playing like the fourth-best team in the country. Duke had the lead, and would go on to win 70-54, but there had been some bobbled passes and bad passes and little was smooth about their play.
“Over-rated, over-rated.”
But were the Pitt students chanting at Duke or Duke’s Cameron Boozer? Or both? It was hard to tell.
So much is expected of Boozer, especially for those who have not seen the 6-9 freshman play in person and come to see if performance matches the hype. It’s as if with his size and strength Boozer should score every time inside, dominate, snatch rebounds out of the crowd, show out like the best player in the country.
At halftime Tuesday, Duke led, 35-29. Boozer had a pedestrian eight points and four rebounds. Pitt’s Barry Dunning Jr. had 13 points and the Panthers’ Roman Siulepa had matched Boozer with nine points, showing off a surprisingly sweet 3-point touch.
Like most opposing teams, the Panthers tried to double-team Boozer when he had the ball low or near the paint, make him give it up, try to force him into mistakes. With Duke’s Patrick Ngongba II injured and not playing, with Maliq Brown in foul trouble, Boozer felt the defensive heat every time down the court.
Once, he tried a crosscourt pass out of a double team that sailed over everybody’s heads. The Pitt students let him know about that, too.
“Cam did a great job overall,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “He’s seen more different defenses than I’ve coached with somebody. Just because of his dominance, of course, but the makeup of our team, people try to double him in different ways and make life hard for him.
“He’s such a great passer out of it, which is great. He’s a willing passer. There’s a few plays where I thought the spacing wasn’t as good as it needs to be. But Cam has done a great job handling that all year.”
Another Cam Boozer double-double
By game’s end, Boozer had 17 points and 10 rebounds, playing 38 minutes in a 16-point ACC victory. Just another double-double, his 13th of the season. He had four assists, marking the 20th game he has had at least four in a game, offsetting his four turnovers.
“I think another thing with Cam that goes completely under the radar is just the consistency of what he does,” Scheyer said. “He had 17 and 10 tonight. He’s 6 of 9 (from the field), he’s efficient.
“His consistency and dependability is just incredible. It’s important that that is acknowledged.”
It has been a challenging few days for Boozer and Duke. Boozer had a game-high 24 points Saturday against North Carolina, but missed a driving shot late in the game with the score tied. When UNC’s Seth Trimble popped in a last-second 3, the Tar Heels had pulled out a 71-68 thriller.
Duke returns to winning ways
Boozer and his twin brother, Cayden, have done little but win, at every level. But in their first big rivalry game in college, with ESPN’s big guns on hand and the nation watching Duke and Carolina, Cameron Boozer was left standing under the basket after Trimble’s 3 watching a tsunami of light blue sweep over the court.
But Boozer said Tuesday the Blue Devils did not let the disappointment of that game linger, not with a road trip coming up quickly to Pittsburgh.
“We just had to refocus and put all our focus on Pitt,” Boozer said.
A question was posed to Boozer about the next game, against No. 20 Clemson. He was reminded the Tigers always play that physical brand of basketball, with no letup.
The questioner then quickly realized Boozer, as a freshman, had never faced Clemson. It’s just that Boozer’s maturity, on and off the court, belies the fact he is just that – a freshman.
“We haven’t looked at Clemson yet,” Boozer said. “We focus on the game at hand and never look ahead. We’ll never hear Coach talk about Clemson before we play Pitt.”
Another question to Boozer was about the class of impressive freshmen nationally, including Caleb Wilson of UNC. The question: was there one freshman he’d love to have at Duke with him?
“Yeah, Cayden Boozer, Dame Sarr, Nik Khamenia …” Boozer said, smiling. “We’ve got the best freshmen at Duke. I love my guys. I wouldn’t trade ‘em for anyone.”
This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 6:15 AM.
