After dominating the ACC regular season, Duke entered the postseason with a taste of “survive and advance” on its way to a hard-fought ACC Tournament championship.
The Blue Devils didn’t have big man Patrick Ngongba, who they hope to get back for the NCAAs, or guard Caleb Foster, slated for a Final Four return if Duke is still playing. They also didn’t have the 20-point leads that seemed to be routine in the final month of the ACC schedule.
Duke led by 20 just twice in the three games, for a total of one minute, 41 seconds against Clemson. The Blue Devils trailed at halftime against Florida State and in the second half against FSU and Virginia, never leading either game by double figures.
“It was a different game for us,” coach Jon Scheyer said after the one-point comeback win over FSU to open the weekend. “We had different lineups. We were in some positions we haven’t been in all year, down eight second half. I think the character that our guys showed in that moment was big time. And then that led to some great defense.”
Duke battled back with an 18-2 second half run to win. After tasting its own blood in the opener, then beating Clemson by 12 in the semis. Duke had another battle in the championship game with No. 2 seed Virginia.
National player of the year candidate Cameron Boozer saw Uva’s Ugonna Onyenso block his shot four times. Boozer was blocked a fifth time by Sam Lewis. He had a season high in missed shots and season lows in shooting percentage and points.
“It can be dejecting,” coach Jon Scheyer said of Boozer’s struggles. “It can be really discouraging when that happens. … I’ve seen him in different moments where he hasn’t been at his best. But we’re spoiled. I’m spoiled because he’s 13 (points) 8 (rebounds) 8 (assists). It’s like, that’s an off-night for him. It just is. He’s really spoiled us with his consistency.”
Short-handed and with its MVP struggling, Duke had to rely on its depth to win a second straight ACC Tourney, and its third in Scheyer’s four years as coach. Cayden Boozer had 14 of his career-high 16 points in the first half, picking up for his brother.
“In the beginning of the game, they just weren’t guarding me so I kept scoring,” he said. “And then once I get confident, I feel like no one can really stop me so I just kept attacking. I felt that was pretty much it.”
Cayden, Duke’s only true point guard with Foster on the shelf, had battled foul trouble in the FSU game. Fellow freshman Nik Khamenia stepped up and ran the team while Boozer went to the bench.
“Part of the strength of the team we’ve built is collective ball handling and decision making,” Scheyer said. “Nik has a background of being a point guard. Cam basically is a point guard, as well, even though he doesn’t look like one. It’s going to be by committee. We have multiple guys that can bring it up.”
“I mean, it’s just a strong face,” said Isaiah Evans. “Cayden goes to the bench, the next guy comes in, someone got to bring the ball up. It doesn’t really matter who does it as long as we just do it effectively and efficiently.”
Evans did his part, scoring a career-high 32 against FSU, pulling down a career-best 10 rebounds against Clemson, and capping the weekend with a 20-point night against UVa. It wasn’t enough to pry the Tournament MVP honors from Cameron Boozer, however. Despite his long night against Virginia, Boozer had 60 points, 32 boards and 17 assists in the three games.
Now, Duke gets nearly a week to heal up before the true survive-and-advance season begins. The close calls in Charlotte could pay dividends in a March that still has a long way to go.
“I think there’s a lot I can learn from this game,” Cameron Boozer said after UVA. “But I just want to keep attacking, keep attacking, figure it out, find other ways to win. Obviously, my shot wasn’t falling. I wasn’t getting in a rhythm. But just had to find a way.”
“I told our team, you can show great character when you’re winning,” Scheyer said. “Not going to say it’s easy because it’s not. But I think you get a chance when you’re down in a moment like that, missing those two guys … you’ve got a chance to show true character, what it’s all about when you’re down. I thought we did that.”
