CHARLOTTE – With a player named Boozer leading the way, Duke beat Virginia 74-70 on Saturday to win its record 24th ACC Tournament championship and third in four seasons since Mike Krzyzewski passed the torch to his successor Jon Scheyer.
Just as expected.
Well, sort of.
Cameron Boozer did hit the clinching free throws in the final seconds and was named the Everett Case Award winner as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. But if not for the performance of his less-heralded twin brother, the conference Rookie and Player of the Year wouldn’t have been in a position to bask in his usual spotlight. Let alone cut down the nets at Spectrum Center as a champion.
Cayden Boozer didn’t just help the top-ranked Blue Devils hold off the second-seeded Cavaliers by tying his career high with 16 points, 14 of which came before halftime, to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. He also helped fill the void created by the absence of injured starter Caleb Foster by playing all 40 minutes and being a difference maker on both ends of the court, under the most intense pressure he’s faced in his young college career.
“Obviously it’s even a bigger opportunity with Caleb going out, (but) you can ask the staff; we had complete confidence that Cayden was ready to do this and to take this to the next level,” Scheyer said. “But to answer it in this moment against the teams we’ve played in the ACC Tournament, I just think that’s something inherently that he has where he was born with that. He was born with that confidence and that competitiveness.”
Those traits were severely tested earlier in the week after a forgettable quarterfinal performance against Florida State. Boozer got into early foul trouble and struggled most of the game while committing three turnovers and going just 3-of-10 from the floor (including 0-of-5 on 3-pointers). About the only positive he was able to take from the game is that his team was able to eke out a one-point win behind a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double by his brother.
It was the kind of effort that could easily have shattered the confidence of a freshman getting his first opportunity to start and play a prominent role. But in this case, Boozer was only shaken, not stirred. He bounced back immediately by scoring 16 points in 37 minutes in an easy semifinal victory against Clemson and was even better in Saturday’s title game on a night in which Cam wasn’t at his best and Duke – which was also without injured big man Patrick Ngongba – needed him most.
“I think that was just a really important moment for me,” Cayden said of the experience he gained against Florida State. “Obviously being spotted and just not really being guarded is a tough situation for anyone to be in. But to be able to have the adversity in the first half of that game and be able to just figure it out in that game, I think was just really important just trying to be prepared for any situation. I think these last two games, just trying to be confident and not let the defense dictate what I do.”
Against Virginia, he realized early on that the defense was playing off him in a successful effort to bottle up Cam and he shifted into attack mode. He got his first two points on free throws off an aggressive drive. He added a 3-pointer from the right corner off an assist from his brother, then with his confidence flying off the charts, he began taking his man off the dribble at every opportunity.
He already had 12 points by the time Cam, the ACC’s second-leading scorer, recorded his first basket at the 6:05 mark of the half. And he was a prime reason why the Blue Devils (32-2) went into the break leading by two rather than trailing.
“In the beginning of the game, they just weren’t guarding me so I kept scoring,” Cayden said. “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.”
Boozer returned to his usual playmaking role in the second half while teammates Isaiah Evans, who led the way with 20 points, and his brother, who rallied to finish with 13 to go along with eight rebounds, eight assists and seven fouls drawn.
In fact, he only scored a single basket over the final 20 minutes. But it was a huge one. It came with 2:55 remaining when he put himself in the right place at the right time to put back a rebound of an Evans 3-point miss to give Duke a 68-66 lead.
“I’m super proud of him,” Cam said, before turning to Cayden and adding “Good job, bro.”
With Foster sidelined for most, if not all of the upcoming NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils are going to need Cayden to continue to build on his confidence and momentum to make a serious run at their first national championship since 2010.
“I see all the hard work he puts in and how great of a player he is,” Cam said. “For him to come here two guys down, really step up for us, it should give him tremendous confidence going into the tournament. We’re going to need that from him the rest of the year.”