Stanford Runs Into a Buzzsaw: No. 6 Duke Blows Out Cardinal Behind Boozer’s Dominant Night
Coming off the high of an upset win over No. 14 North Carolina, Stanford men’s basketball had momentum, confidence-and a packed Maples Pavilion behind them. But Saturday night, the Cardinal ran headfirst into a different kind of storm: the Duke Blue Devils, and more specifically, freshman phenom Cameron Boozer.
Duke, ranked No. 6 in the country, looked every bit the part in an 80-50 dismantling of Stanford. The Blue Devils extended their win streak to six, while Stanford dropped to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play.
“Obviously a tough one for us,” Stanford head coach Kyle Smith said postgame. “Lesson learned in handling success.”
Early Struggles Set the Tone
From the opening tip, Duke’s defensive pressure was suffocating. Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie-just days removed from a record-setting 36-point performance against UNC-was met with relentless ball pressure, coughing up a turnover within seconds of the game starting. It was a sign of things to come.
It took three full minutes for Stanford to get on the board, finally breaking through with a hook shot from graduate forward AJ Rohosy. But by then, Duke had already seized control, and they weren’t giving it back.
Cameron Boozer, a projected top-three NBA Draft pick, wasted no time asserting himself. He hit his first three field goal attempts with ease and looked completely unfazed by Stanford’s rotating cast of defenders. Whether it was Grant, Rohosy, or Aidan Cammann, Boozer had an answer-and usually, it involved putting the ball in the basket.
Alongside Boozer, sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II made his presence felt early with a pair of steals. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 13-4 lead, and Stanford never truly recovered.
Boozer Takes Over
Stanford’s offense struggled to find a rhythm. Duke’s perimeter defense pushed the Cardinal off their spots, forcing them into contested threes and rushed decisions. Graduate guard Jeremy Dent-Smith and redshirt sophomore forward Cameron Grant each hit a three to keep things respectable early, but the Blue Devils were simply operating on another level.
Okorie, the breakout star from earlier in the week, was bottled up. Duke assigned freshman forward Dame Sarr to shadow him, and the result was a masterclass in on-ball defense.
Okorie missed his first three shots and was constantly forced to give up the ball or take tough looks. He eventually found a bit of daylight-hitting a layup, then stepping back for a three-but the damage was minimal.
Boozer, meanwhile, was doing it all. He scored inside, knocked down a three, and drew extra defenders with regularity.
That opened up driving lanes for his teammates, and Duke capitalized. The Blue Devils outrebounded Stanford 21-13 in the first half and racked up eight steals, closing the half on a dominant run that left the Cardinal scoreless for the final four minutes.
A shot clock violation on Stanford’s final possession was a fitting end to a half where Duke dictated every inch of the floor.
Halftime score: Duke 35, Stanford 19.
A Brief Spark, Then a Blue Devil Avalanche
Stanford came out of the break with a bit more energy. Rohosy opened the second half with a couple of gritty buckets, including a strong putback.
Ryan Agarwal knocked down a three, and Dent-Smith followed with a flurry-a tough and-one layup, a high-arching stepback three, and a smooth midrange jumper off a Rohosy screen. For a moment, it looked like Stanford might have found a pulse.
But Duke never blinked.
The Blue Devils answered every run, every flicker of momentum, with poise and precision. Boozer kept rolling, and by the midway point of the second half, Duke had stretched the lead to 19.
Stanford tried switching to a zone defense to slow things down-Okorie even turned a tipped pass into a fast break layup-but it wasn’t enough. The Cardinal couldn’t string together stops, and the offense never found the consistent rhythm it needed.
With four minutes left, Duke hit its largest lead of the night-30 points. By the time Boozer, Sarr, and senior forward Maliq Brown checked out to a standing ovation from the sizable Duke contingent in the crowd, the game was long decided.
Final Numbers and Takeaways
Boozer’s final stat line was as impressive as his on-court presence: 30 points and 14 rebounds. The performance not only led Duke to victory but also moved him past Cooper Flagg and Marvin Bagley for the third-most 25-point games by a freshman in Duke history. That’s elite company, and Boozer’s name is earning its place among it.
For Stanford, Dent-Smith led the way with 18 points, while Rohosy added eight points and eight rebounds. Okorie, who had been the story of the week after his historic game against UNC, finished with nine points on 3-of-9 shooting.
This was a humbling night for the Cardinal. After the emotional high of knocking off a top-15 team, they ran into a program with national title aspirations and a future NBA star playing at full throttle.
The lesson? In the ACC, there’s no time to celebrate-because the next challenge is always right around the corner, and sometimes, it looks like Cameron Boozer.