Duke basketball topples Texas. What we learned about the Blue Devils

Charlotte

They came to Charlotte on Tuesday to help honor Dick Vitale, long one of the leading and certainly loudest voices of college basketball – the man called “Dickie V.”

Duke, ranked No. 6 in preseason, accepted the opportunity to open a new basketball season in the Dick Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center. So, too, the Texas Longhorns, who began the season with a new coach, Sean Miller.

It seemed fitting. As former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a video tribute to Vitale shown before the game, “His vocabulary became a part of our sports lexicon.”

After the tribute, and some tears by an emotional Vitale at courtside, the Blue Devils and Longhorns tipped it off to start the season and the Blue Devils came away with a 75-60 victory.

For Duke, it was the 26th straight season-opening victory. And it would not be a 40-minute Cameron Boozer showcase for NBA scouts.

The 6-9 freshman was held scoreless in the first half, which had the Longhorns grittily taking a 33-32 lead. Boozer’s first college points came in the first minute of the second half, and he would finish the game with his first college double-double: 15 points and 13 rebounds.

“I think he’s one of the best players in the country,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “I have hard time thinking there’s a freshman who’s better. He’s a one-man wrecking crew.”

Sophomore Isaiah Evans gave the Blue Devils the needed offense in the first half, getting on one of his 3-point tears and scoring 15 of his 23 points – and having some fun doing it. Boozer was more of a factor after halftime and the Blue Devils stayed in front by spacing their offense better while continuing to battle on the defensive end in limiting Texas to 32 percent shooting with 16 turnovers and just six assists.

“Our defense carried us the whole time. Once we started to finish possessions without fouling, we made it tough on them to score,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

Duke had a 51-48 lead midway through the second half before an 8-0 run that ended with an Evans basket. They added to the lead from there for a solid victory to start things off. Texas, which got 16 points from 6-8 junior Dailyn Swain, could not make a late run.

“They were really good last year and had a chance to win it, and I think they’re really good this year and will have a chance to win it,” Miller said of the Blue Devils, who lost in the 2025 NCAA semifinals

What was learned about the Devils in the victory?

Cameron Boozer recovers from slow start

Cameron Boozer made it all look so easy, almost effortless, in the two exhibition games the Devils played. The big man averaged 28.5 points and 17.5 rebounds and was too much to handle for either Central Florida or Tennessee.

But the season opener, when everything becomes official and the stats all count, was the opposite for him in the first half. Shots inside did not fall. Nor did the outside jumper. Nor the front end of a one-and-one.

At halftime, Boozer’s stat sheet showed him 0-7 from the field, 0-3 on 3-pointers and zero points. He did have two personal fouls, one of them a touch foul.

“Coach Scheyer challenged me at halftime, said I was playing soft,” Boozer said, drawing a second look from Scheyer, seated by his side at postgame press conference

His response in the second half? Boozer took the ball inside and was fouled, making two free throws for his first college points. He had a two-hand slam that had the crowd roaring. He then made a neat feed thorugh traffic to Patrick Ngongba II for a dunk.

Boozer was more determined, more focused. He didn’t force anything. He played big, with composure.

“He doesn’t have his best stuff and comes out the second half and has a 15 and (13) night. Not bad. Not bad at all,” Scheyer said.

Blue Devils happy to have Brown back

Duke coach Jon Scheyer said throughout preseason practices that the Blue Devils needed Maliq Brown back in the lineup to be a more complete team.

The 6-9 senior was slowed much of last season with shoulder issues. That healed after a lot of rehab work, but Brown then needed a knee procedure before preseason began.

Everything pointed to Brown, the Devils’ best defender, being ready for the opener. He did not start the game, but was Duke’s first substitute and immediately went to work.

Defending Texas’ Lassina Traore at the top of the key, Brown used his long reach to get a piece of the ball, which bounded into the backcourt. Duke’s Darren Harris and Brown chased after it, Harris diving across the floor to knock the ball off Traore and out of bounds for a turnover.

Those are the kind of hustle plays that an active Brown can initiate, that the Blue Devils will need.

“He’ll be better and better. We’ll continue to get him back to where he wants to be,” Scheyer said.

Longhorns tried to rough up the Devils

The Longhorns found a way to disrupt Duke’s offense in the first half – effectively, if ultra physically.

The Horns banged bodies, slapped, whacked, locked arms, did whatever worked to disrupt the Blue Devils. Scheyer had a few words – or more than a few words – with the three refs working the game, but the first 20 minutes produced some ragged, ragged basketball as neither team could find any flow to their game.

Duke missed its first five shots and a pair of free throws before Dame Sarr gave the Devils their first basket of the season with a 3 from the left corner with 16:31 left in the first half – credit Brown with the first assist.

Texas had little success stopping or slowing Evans, who knocked down four 3’s in scoring 15 first-half points. But Cameron Boozer couldn’t get started and showed some frustration at times.

The Longhorns didn’t let up on the rough stuff on the offensive end, either. Matas Vokietaitis, an awkward 7-foot center, tried to straight-line his way to the basket when he got the ball anywhere need the lane. Late in the first half, the FAU transfer turned, put his shoulders down and flattened a Duke defender without dribbling, overcooking it and turning the ball over.

The Lithuanian, the American Athletic Conference freshman of the year last season, made enough bullish moves to get to the line for five first-half free throws and made them all with a weird flick of the wrist shooting motion.

By the second half, Duke fans were booing Vokietaitis every time he touched the ball. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

“If the crowd is booing him, he must be doing something right,” said Texas guard Jordan Pope, who also had 15 points.

This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 11:21 PM.