By AARON BEARD
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Duke star freshman and top NBA prospect Cameron Boozer is still healing, both emotionally after the Blue Devils’ devastating March Madness loss to UConn and physically after suffering a facial injury in that game.
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward said Sunday he sustained “a couple of fractures” during the Blue Devils’ loss in the Elite Eight.
Boozer, who on Friday became only the fifth freshman named as The Associated Press men’s national player of the year, was hurt in the first half last Sunday when he went up for a shot against 7-foot-1 center Eric Reibe. Reibe’s left elbow struck Boozer near his right eye as Reibe contested the shot, leading to significant swelling around and under the eye.
The swelling around his right eye was down Sunday, though the white part was still bright red. Boozer said he opted against having surgery in favor of giving it time to heal.
“I have a couple of fractures, but I’m all good,” Boozer said during Sunday’s award presentation for winning the AP national honor, along with another from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. “Just going through the healing process.”
Boozer fought through the injury the rest of the way and finished with 27 points, including a tough spinning basket into the paint against traffic with Duke leading by just one in the final minute. It was one of multiple examples this season of Boozer playing through bumps, blows and hard fouls, such as a late-season win at N.C. State in which Boozer had gnarly long scratches near his right shoulder after being scratched by a Wolfpack defender.
The Huskies went on to win on Braylon Mullins’ last-second 3-pointer to complete a stunning comeback from 19 down. Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden, received torrents of online abuse after committing Duke’s last turnover before Mullins’ winner.
Cameron pointed out that “that one play isn’t the reason we lost.”
“There’s not really that much I can say to make him feel better,” Boozer said. “We’re all hurting as a team, but we’re going to get through it together. We’re a super-connected group.
“It’s definitely a hard moment. But he’s a tough guy. We’re all tough, it’s going to make us so much better going forward. It’s something you’ve got to take on the chin and learn and grow from.”
UConn went on to beat Illinois in Saturday’s national semifinal and will face a Michigan team that has rolled through the tournament, scoring 90-plus points in every game and winning each by at least 13 points. Duke, the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, was one of three teams to beat Michigan all year.
Boozer’s award presentation came on the same stage where UConn and Michigan were holding news conferences ahead of playing Monday for the national title.
“It’s a lot of emotions going into it,” Boozer said of being at Lucas Oil Stadium. “But yeah, it’s definitely tough being here for sure.”
