Cameron Boozer gave Duke 27 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in his final game as a Blue Devil on Sunday in their heartbreaking 73-72 Elite Eight loss to UConn. He also gave up his body, playing 39 minutes and taking an elbow to the face from the Huskies’ Eric Reibe as he contested a shot. Still, he doesn’t think that was everything.
“I wish I could’ve given more for those guys,” Boozer said in the postgame press conference with both eyes welling and his right eye swelling. “Caleb (Foster), Pat (Ngongba), Maliq (Brown), everyone is hurting, dealing with injuries, coming and playing. It took a lot of heart, it took a lot of balls, to do that. So, I’m just proud of them, proud of our team.”
Boozer rightly critiqued his team for coming out flat in the second half and giving UConn life, which he said is “all they really need.” However, it’s hard to say that the 18-year-old future first-round NBA draft pick could have possibly given any more, especially sporting a well-earned black eye.
Cameron Boozer’s black eye would’ve been legendary in a win
Duke did nearly everything it needed to get back to the Final Four after last year’s collapse against Houston. It took an inexplicable late turnover from Cameron’s brother, Cayden, to allow Braylon Mullins to hit the game-winning three in the final second. Cameron, though he had a tough defensive matchup against UConn’s motion offense, did everything he could on the offensive end of the floor.
Cameron Boozer finished with 27 points, including a huge bucket in the final minute to extend Duke’s lead back out to three points. His black eye is proof of the physicality on the interior, but Boozer was able to finish routinely against UConn center Tarris Reed Jr.
The matchup was a prizefight in the loaded East Region, with Scheyer and Hurley the last two standing from a Sweet 16 that included Rick Pitino and Tom Izzo. Boozer looked the part of a prize-fighter on the sidelines, getting his black eye tended to with a Coke can.
Scheyer deserves blame for letting the Huskies back into it. But his best player certainly didn't have more to give.