On the biggest stage college basketball can provide in November, specifically a primetime matchup on CBS following a Cowboys-Chiefs game featuring Dak Prescott, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Cameron Boozer delivered.
The five-star freshman at Duke finished with 35 points and nine rebounds in Thursday’s 80-71 victory over Arkansas in the CBS Sports Thanksgiving Classic at the United Center in Chicago. Boozer took 18 shots and made 13 of them. He added three assists and two steals for the Blue Devils, who are up to No. 6 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
“He’s been so coachable from Day 1,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said when asked about Boozer, the five-star prospect who was a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year winner in high school. “You’re lucky when you’re coaching a guy where he’s harder on himself more than anybody else could be. We actually were talking earlier, I mean, what he’s done has been incredible. I think him and I both know there’s been more there, as crazy as that sounds. I still think there’s a lot more there. For me, the biggest difference, though, for a freshman, is learning how to play through contact and the decision-making, the decisiveness. He can do so many different things. Obviously, he’s shown he can shoot the ball from three, right? He can create his own shot. But I thought tonight he was a great connector for us, with quick decisions, putting pressure on the defense and then really opening up a lot for other guys to drive, shoot and make plays as well.”
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Just like Cooper Flagg did last season, Boozer is currently leading Duke in five major statistical categories — specifically points per game (22.9), rebounds per game (9.8), assists per game (3.9), steals per game (1.8) and blocks per game (1.1). It’s still early, obviously. But, for whatever it’s worth, Boozer is currently leading the Player of the Year standings at KenPom.com with a rating of 2.382.
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