Boozer’s big second half leads Duke to Sweet 16

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

GREENVILLE, S.C. — After struggling with Siena in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Duke exhibited more of its usual form Saturday, routing TCU, 81-58.

“We knew how this would be a hard-fought game,” head coach Jon Scheyer said as the Blue Devils advanced to their third straight Sweet 16. “I just keep coming back to the character of these guys. For Pat (Ngongba) to come back to this game was not easy by any means. He was fighting like crazy. He even came up to us before the first game, and just in the best interest of him, and ultimately our team also. We always want him back out here, but we tried to get him ready for this game. That was pushing to begin with. But the fact that he’s fighting to come back.”

The teams were evenly matched early, as they split the first 14 points at the first media timeout. Patrick Ngongba II came off the bench to gave Duke a brief lead with a jumper, but TCU took a three point lead, 15-12, on a three by Brock Harding.

The game continued to go back and forth, but Duke entered the bonus midway through the first half, and by the time Isaiah Evans hit a pair of free throws and converted a transition layup, Duke led, 23-20. After a TCU bucket, Evans stayed hot with a four-point play, giving the Blue Devils their largest lead at 27-22.

After a timeout, Ngongba connected on a beautiful reverse layup and by the time Evans turned the same trick, Duke led, 31-23. After a TCU timeout, Xavier Edmonds stopped the bleeding with a floater, but Maliq Brown answered with a dunk as the Blue Devils led, 33-25, with 3:59 left in the first half.

However, Cam Boozer picked up two quick fouls and Edmonds scored in the post for the Horned Frogs. He scored two straight buckets in the paint as TCU made their way back to within two, at 36-34. Brown hit a pair of foul shots as two TCU players had three fouls, and Duke led at the half, 38-34.

TCU started the second half on a 6-0 run thanks to four points from Micah Robinson, giving the Horned Frogs a 40-38 lead. After Cam Boozer tied things with a dunk, Evans scored and drew a fourth foul on Edmonds. The Boozer twins converted back-to-back three-point plays, and Nik Khamenia hit one from beyond the arc as Duke had its largest lead with 11:48 left, at 53-44.

Harding hit a three for the Horned Frogs, but the foul trouble continued to mount as two players had four fouls. Dame Sarr hit a three and TCU coach Jamie Dixon was assessed a technical foul. By the time Sarr hit another free throw, Duke led, 64-50.

The Blue Devils continued to pull away as Cam Boozer notched a pair of buckets in the paint. With Duke leading, 68-50, Edmonds fouled out and Cam Boozer scored again. By the time Brown thew down a dunk, Duke led, 74-52, entering the final media stoppage and the Blue Devils advanced with the 81-58 victory.

A STRONG SECOND HALF: Cam Boozer only had two points at halftime, but finished the game with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.

“They did a great job swarming the point, protecting the rim,” Boozer said. “So I just didn’t have a lot of looks really. Second half, we figured out some things that got me going downhill, got some high-lows. Sometimes it’s just the flow of the game. You try to get the best shot available. Sometimes it’s not you. Sometimes it’s the other guys, sometimes it’s layups at the rim. I should have found ways to be more aggressive and found a way to get shots up, but at the end of the day, if we’re getting the shots available, it doesn't matter who it is.”

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS: It seemed as if Duke was back to its old self in this game. Many players said it was due to Ngongba’s presence on the floor, and Scheyer adds that Duke found its identity.

“I thought the second half, it was there after the first minute-and-a-half, two minutes,” he said. “Even after the first half, you’re not going to blow people out. It felt like a big-time tournament game. You have a four-point lead, you wish you could have gotten it to nine or ten the way the last few minutes went. But you have the lead, and I thought when we got back to just guarding the way we can, valuing the ball on the offensive end, that’s where we got separation, and that’s been the identity all year.”

HOW SWEET IT IS: Legendary Duke broadcaster Bob Harris used to have a catchphrase, “how sweet it is.” The victory means that the Blue Devil program will participate in its 35th Sweet 16 next week.

“I thought there were incredible lessons there for me, for our staff, for our program, but most importantly, for our players over the last two games,” Scheyer said. “I thought the urgency we had tonight was there from the get-go. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be perfect. I’m just really proud of them for coming off three games in a row last week, Thursday finding a way to win. Second half again, just finding a way. And now we have to get refreshed the next two days, find out who we’re playing, and keep this thing rolling.”

UP NEXT: Duke (34-2) will travel to Washington, D.C. for the Sweet 16, where it will return to action Friday against the winner of a second-round showdown between Kansas and St. John’s. TCU’s season ends at 23-12.