Second-half surge leads Duke past Texas

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

CHARLOTTE — Duke and Texas met on the hardwood in Charlotte for a marquee matchup to tip-off the 2025-26 college basketball seasons for both teams.

When the dust settled, it was the Blue Devils who overcame poor shooting in the first half (38 percent) to pull away from the Longhorns late in a 75-60 win in the inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational.

“That's one way to start off the season,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “I couldn't be more proud of our team. I thought we showed great fight. Obviously, there's a lot we can do better and clean up. For our guys, I thought we stepped up and made some big-time winning plays.”

Those areas that Duke needs to clean up were on full display early as the Blue Devils struggled to hit shots. Texas’ Dailyn Swain scored eight of the first 10 Longhorn points as Texas grabbed an early lead.

Duke used the three-ball to quickly erase the deficit as sophomore Isaiah Evans caught fire with a trio of triples as Duke led, 23-16, at the under-8 media stoppage.

“I like the different options that I’ve got,” said Evans, who scored a game-high 23 points. “Along with the person screening for me, I can obviously go over, flare, catch and shoot. If I don't like the shot, I can give it back, go right back over, curl to the basket. And if I don't have the initial shot, I can still cut to the basket, get the layup, like the one I had in the second half. It’s a really good play for me, honestly.”

Despite Evans’ efforts, the Longhorns would not go away. Swain and Jordan Pope kept chipping away at the lead, and by the time Nic Codie hit a turnaround jumper, Texas led 32-31 at the half.

Duke started the second half on a 10-0 run, thanks in large part to the play on both ends of the floor by Cameron Boozer, son of former Duke standout Carlos Boozer. Texas ended their drought with a long three by Pope and he hit another later in the half. After Swain connected on a mid-range jumper, Texas had horned its way back in the game, pulling within 51-48 with 9:44 left in the contest.

Boozer and Evans proved to be too much for Texas down the stretch, however, as Duke shot at a 48 percent clip for the second half and pulled away for the win.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Much like his dad Carlos, Cameron Boozer came to Duke with high expectations. So far, he hasn’t disappointed. In an exhibition victory over Tennessee, Boozer posted a monster double-double with 24 points and 23 rebounds. He followed that up with 15 points and 13 rebounds against Texas.

“It was obviously a tough first half,” Boozer said. “I think my teammates did a great job picking me up. Scheyer challenged me at halftime, said that I played soft in the first half, which, you know, was true. It was true. In the second half, I had to change my mentality. My teammates did a great job finding me. We were the tougher team in the second half as a unit.”

IT'S AWESOME, BABY!!! The game was played to honor the legacy of legendary college basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale, who has done so much for the game of college basketball and off the court for those battling cancer. Vitale returned to the booth after his own battle with cancer and received a long standing ovation from the nearly 13,000 fans inside the Spectrum Center.

THE FIRST EVER DICK VITALE INVITATIONAL 👏

Look at what it means to Dicky V 🥹 pic.twitter.com/IOSmTebblc

— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2025

“This tonight, you know what it means to me? My grandkids are here today,” Vitale said during the ESPN broadcast. “My granddaughter goes to Duke, I had two (that) graduated. But what it means to me is my grandkids, when they have children, I’ll be long gone. The bottom line is, they’ll tell them, ‘That was my Papa, man. That’s my Papa.’ I’m really touched, man, really touched.”

Tale Of The Tape For Texas: After a promising first half, the Longhorns were held to just 31 percent shooting in the second half and were outscored, 44-28, in the final 40 minutes. Swain led the way with 16 points while Pope and 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis had 15 points apiece.

Up Next: Duke will host Tim Craft and the Western Carolina Catamounts on November 8th at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, while Texas plays host to Lafayette the same afternoon at 2 p.m. Central.