Cameron Boozer cracks list of great Duke freshman outings

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DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Cameron Boozer has already made it onto a list of all-time great Duke performances in just his fourth college game.

Boozer’s 35 points for the fourth-ranked Blue Devils came in Friday night’s 100-62 victory over Indiana State.

That tied the second-most points in a game for a Duke freshman behind only Cooper Flagg’s 42 last season against Notre Dame.

“Just his approach,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “He’s such a competitor.”

Boozer shares the 35-point freshman mark with Zion Williamson (2018-19) and Jared McCain (2023-24). Boozer’s output was one more point than Marvin Bagley III (2017-18) and J.J. Redick (2022-23) had in their first seasons with the Blue Devils.

“When I’m focusing on the right things like defense, rebounding, pressuring the ball, the other things naturally happen,” Boozer said. “Just really thinking about what can I do every play.”

The others in the top five on the program’s single-game freshman scoring list have been first-round NBA Draft selections, including Williamson and Flagg at No. 1 overall. All except Redick, coach of Los Angeles Lakers, are active NBA players.

Boozer made 13 of 16 shots form the field, connecting on both 3-point shots. He wasn’t quite as smooth at the free-throw line, going 7 for 11.

“I don’t know how you could be more efficient,” Scheyer said. “I think his three misses, he got all the rebounds and scored them.”

Boozer also provided team highs of 12 rebounds and five assists. He dominated in the lane against the smaller Sycamores.

“He gets it down in the paint, he’s going to attack the rim, it’s hard to stop him,” teammate Caleb Foster said.

Boozer is averaging 22.5 points per game going into Tuesday night’s matchup vs. No. 25 Kansas in New York.

“He has such a good way about him,” Scheyer said. “I just think it speaks to his character. I actually want him to be more aggressive with his scoring. I thought he was doing a great job of getting others open.”

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