The play went just the way Duke drew it up.
Each step of the way, the five Blue Devils on the floor did exactly what their coach wanted.
As the ball is inbounded, Jon Scheyer, looking frazzled and exhausted as he’s watched his team give away a large lead down the stretch—again—shouts “Cam!”
Dame Sarr, running the baseline, does exactly that, throwing the ball to Cameron Boozer, who has scored 27 points in the game and could be going to the line to shoot the free throws that will help seal a trip to the Final Four.
Boozer bobbles the ball as two UConn defenders descend.
Scheyer, who lost to in-state rival NC State after leading by nine in the Elite Eight in 2024, then lost to Houston in the Final Four after leading by 14 last year, winces. But Boozer is able to retrieve the ball. He tosses it back to Sarr.
Now, looking excited, as it appears Duke may be able to pull this off and protect what once was a 19-point lead, Scheyer points rapidly, but his players are way ahead of him.
Scheyer points to Cayden Boozer, who is just shy of midcourt, but the ball is already on the way to him.
Boozer could hold the ball. A nation of armchair point guards will declare this on sports radio calls and message board posts over the hours to come. Except that to hold the ball means free throws, and, at best, a three-point lead, and a last-ditch UConn three-point attempt that could mean overtime.
No, Duke can guarantee victory with a pass toward an open man. And there are two to choose from.
Two other Blue Devils have broken free and are at the far end of the court, all alone. By the time the nearest UConn defender could reach them the game will be over. One is Patrick Ngongba. The big man is outside the three-point line, in front of Duke’s bench. He’s closer—a shorter pass for Boozer than Isaiah Evans, who is outside the three-point line on the other side of the court.
Scheyer points toward Ngongba, but Boozer is already in the air to throw the game clinching pass. The team knew the play, defeated UConn’s defense and did exactly what their coach wanted.
Except the two UConn defenders in front of Boozer jumped too. Silas Demary Jr. was at the apogee of his desperation leap, his arms stretched as far above his head as they’ll go. His fingertips managed to tip the ball as Boozer releases it, and it falls far short of Ngongba. Demary’s teammate, Braylon Mullins retrieves the loose ball.
“I turned the ball over,” Boozer said after the game. “I should’ve been stronger with the ball. I cost our team our season.”
Duke STILL does everything right. The crowd at Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Center stands, mouth agape, watching the final seconds. Even Scheyer, whose knees buckled as the pass was deflected, a look of anguish on his face, stands, arms raised, as he helplessly watches UConn get the steal.
His players knew what to do, though. When Evans and Ngongba saw the ball wasn’t getting to them, they ran downcourt. By the time UConn is ready to shoot, Ngongba is at the top of the key, cutting off a potential pass to a three-point shooter. Evans is in front of Mullins, who gets the ball by the mid-court logo.
Evans was actually too quick getting back into defensive position. He’s ready to stop a three-point attempt from NBA range. Mullins takes one from two steps deeper—a Hail Mary attempt—it’s so far out that announcer Ian Eagle says, “Mullins tosses it up,” on his call.
Scheyer waves for Evans to come out on Mullins, but it’s too late. He knows it. He’s already grimacing as his eyes follow the arc of the shot.
“I wasn’t up with the ball,” Evans said. “I didn’t realize how much time was on the clock. I probably could’ve been up a little bit more, contested the shot. He made the shot.”
The shot goes through. Utterly deflated, Scheyer gives a Charlie Brown look of grief, then walks the length of the bench, arms dangling at his sides.
Cameron Boozer heads to the baseline and the ball, ready to run the inbounds play for Duke’s final shot of the season. But there is a time out. Evans immediately turns and walks toward the Duke bench. Nik Khamenia is already off the bench and at half court, ready to greet his teammates as they return for the time-out huddle. Ngongba walks backwards, still staring at the basket in disbelief. Cayden Boozer looks up at the scoreboard. The clock shows 0.4 seconds left, the exact same time remaining as in UNC’s win over Duke a month earlier. That was Carolina’s only lead of the game. This is UConn’s first lead since it was 2-0.
Losing can be character building. It can serve as motivation for future successes.
“It’s not,” Cameron Boozer said. “It’s a terrible feeling. We’ve got guys that gave so much, guys that got hurt, had surgery, came back and are playing through injury. I wish we could just figure it out and finish the job for them. It sucks for sure.”
“Today’s gonna be a rough day,” said Evans. “Next week’s gonna be rough.”
“It’s hard to put into perspective right now,” Cayden Boozer said. “Obviously we didn’t get the job done.”
