Cameron Boozer, No. 3 Duke knock off No. 1 Michigan
WASHINGTON — Cameron Boozer scored 18 points and No. 3 Duke handed another neutral-site defeat to fellow Blueblood Michigan, eliminating the top-ranked Wolverines 68-63 Saturday night in a possible raucous Final Four preview in the nation’s capital.
The Wolverines had won 11 straight games and replaced Arizona atop the AP Top 25 poll this week. The Wildcats, now fourth, won at No. 2 in Houston earlier Saturday, making it the first time since Feb. 8, 2025 that teams ranked No. 1 and 2 in the poll have lost on the same day.
With his father, former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer in attendance, Cameron Boozer made a 3-pointer with 1:55 left to give the Blue Devils a 64-58 lead. Isaiah Evans added 14 points for the Blue Devils (25-2), who could return to Capital One Arena in a little more than a month for the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
“It was a game that didn’t feel like it was played in February,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “It felt like a March or April game. Obviously we have a lot of respect for Michigan and the staff and how good they are. And I thought it was just an important game where our guys were ready to compete at a high level.”
In the programs’ first meeting in 12 years, Duke improved to 23-8 against Michigan and 7-0 on neutral court, a series that includes the 1992 national title game. Michigan has not beaten Duke since Dec. 6, 2009, in Ann Arbor.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 21 points for the Wolverines (25-2), who hadn’t lost since a three-point home loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 10.
Although the Michigan team led by second-year coach Dusty May was praised for its unselfishness, Scheyer’s Blue Devils showed more versatility on offense. Caleb Foster scored 12 points and Patrick Ngongba II added 11 as Duke found weak spots in the Wolverines’ top-scoring defense.
Meanwhile, Duke won the rebounding battle 41-28 as Michigan settled for too many single perimeter shots, going 6 of 25 from 3-point range.
“When you plan a game like this, you don’t know what it’s going to look like after the fact, or even the preparation leading up to it. We know more about our team now. We’ll be better for this game and overall,” May said. “We didn’t bounce back the way we wanted to, and we made some timely mistakes, and when you play someone like Duke, they make you pay for every mistake. And they did that tonight.”
Fans exchanged chants of “Let’s go Duke!” ” and “Let’s go blue!” for the rare must-win game in a city starved for meaningful basketball. ESPN’s “College GameDay” broadcast was broadcast from inside the arena during the teams’ morning shootout, and tickets for upper-tier seats were selling in the $600 range in the hours leading up to the game, with fieldside seats topping $6,000.
The defense had the upper hand in a lively and physical first half in which neither team led by more than five points. Ngongba fouled out while fighting for a rebound with 0.8 seconds left and made both free throws to give the Blue Devils a 35-33 lead at the break.
Surprisingly, Duke never trailed again.
“This game helped us understand what a tournament environment is,” Scheyer said. “I’m grateful for all of this, for this whole event, because I think it really simulates what it’s going to be like. And whether or not we get the opportunity to play in Washington, it’s helped us a lot.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
