LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As Isaac McKneeley’s contested 3-pointer ricocheted off the rim right to Duke’s Dame Sarr with just under 14 minutes left in the Blue Devils’ 84-73 win vs. Louisville on Tuesday, Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey turned and slammed both hands on the courtside table behind him.
Kelsey could see a potential marquee victory slipping away from the Cardinals and had some frustration to let out. Duke had outscored Louisville 14-6 in the second half and was methodically taking control in a critical ACC battle the Cardinals once led by 12.
Just 15 seconds later, the defensively resurgent Blue Devils took their first lead en route to a victory that established No. 6 Duke firmly atop the conference pecking order.
The No. 20 Cardinals, who started 7 of 10 from 3-point range to ignite a crowd of 17,656, went cold in the second half. By the two-minute mark, Louisville fans streamed toward the exits, resigned to Duke extending its winning streak in the series to eight.
Star freshman Cameron Boozer turned in another dominant performance with 27 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blue Devils, and coach Jon Scheyer was quick to note that “what he’s doing is unbelievable.”
But as great as Boozer was, and as great as the 43 points from the supporting duo of Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster were, Tuesday’s result stood out for something else entirely.
Duke’s defense, which was mired in its worst stretch since Scheyer’s playing days, rediscovered its identity.
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“They were as explosive as any offense we’ve played this season,” Scheyer said. “No question about it. The game really came down to, I think our defense in the second half was terrific.”
Duke’s return to the basics
During their 11-0 start, Duke ranked No. 6 in defensive efficiency. But something changed in the second half of an 82-81 loss against Texas Tech on Dec. 20, as the Red Raiders shot a blistering 62.1% while erasing a 17-point deficit.
The shoddy defense continued in uncomfortably close wins over projected ACC bottom feeders Georgia Tech and Florida State over the past week. Those three games marked the first time since February 2009 that Duke allowed three consecutive opponents to shoot 53% or better.
“We’ve gone through it,” Scheyer said, adding that the Blue Devils spent Monday working on “basic defensive drills” for the sake of rebuilding good habits.
“Guarding the ball, moving as the ball moves and being in a stance,” Scheyer explained, rattling off principles that might also be taught at Scheyer’s summer youth camps.
Even after that return to the basics, it was more of the same in the first half at Louisville, as sharpshooter Ryan Conwell drilled his first three 3-pointers. Then, reserve center Aly Khalifa got in on the fun by hitting his first three 3-pointers as the Cardinals opened up a 26-14 lead.
That’s when Boozer put his foot down. Duke’s freshman phenom responded with a quick 3-pointer of his own and scored 10 points over an 8-minute span to help keep the Blue Devils in touch.
“In that first half, he just settled us,” Scheyer said. “If he didn’t do that, it could have gotten out of hand.”
The freshly settled Blue Devils regrouped at halftime and showed why they must be regarded as a Tier 1 threat to win the national championship.
Unsung heroes
Collectively, the trio of Boozer, Evans and Foster keyed Duke to a sterling 70.8% shooting performance in the second half. But offensive brilliance is nothing new for the Blue Devils, nor was Louisville’s defensive susceptibility any grand revelation.
That’s why, in the same breaths that he used to praise his star trio for their production, Scheyer also credited Dame Sarr and Maliq Brown. The duo combined for just six points off the bench, but they played pivotal roles in slowing Louisville’s offensive barrage to a crawl.
A Cardinals team that hit 10 of 21 from 3-point range in the first half hit just 2 of 17 after halftime, and it wasn’t because they suddenly forgot how to shoot. Clean looks that abounded in the first half dissipated for Louisville as Duke extended its defense, became more active and dared the perimeter-oriented Cardinals to try and score inside the arc. Sarr and Brown helped spearhead the charge.
“They’re two of the best defenders I’ve ever been around,” Boozer said. “What they do for our team, it might not show up in the box score. But you definitely feel it throughout the game.”
The strong defensive effort came with a caveat, as Louisville star freshman and offensive maestro Mikel Brown Jr. missed his fifth straight game due to a back injury. But given how strong Louisville looked in the first half without Brown, there was plenty to glean from Duke’s second half defensive effort.
Conwell, who got to his spots at will in the first half, finished 0 for 4 from deep in the second half.
“With a guy like him, you want to make him work for it,” Scheyer said. “I think the first two threes he hit were clean looks. So that wasn’t good. That was on me, not our guys. That was on me. But I thought just the fight, the discipline to make him score over the top…I think it was more about the fight and the effort by Dame, by Caleb and by Isaiah in the second half to really guard.”
More tests await in an ACC that has more teeth in 2026 than it did last season, when Duke cruised to a 19-1 mark in league play. Though the Blue Devils passed what may go down as their toughest road assignment of conference play by taking down the Cardinals, they can’t rest on their laurels. The next challenge is Saturday against SMU, which is the league’s highest-rated offensive team not named Duke or Louisville. The Mustangs hung 97 on North Carolina last weekend.
But Duke took a big step back in the right direction against Louisville. Boozer played an unbelievable game. That’s to be expected at this point.
What was less certain, especially after the first half, is whether the defense would return for the first time in weeks. It did, and the Blue Devils demonstrated their championship-level potential in the process.
“We did some things in the second half that I thought was Duke defense,” Scheyer said. “How can we build from that and be true to who we are and what’s made us really good so far?”
