Among all the questions surrounding the Duke basketball team entering the NCAA Tournament, its point guard situation was the biggest.
Caleb Foster’s broken foot in the regular season finale against North Carolina casted a dark shadow on the team’s chances to win the National Championship with unproven, freshman guard Cayden Boozer having to take over the full-time duties at point guard.
After a struggle in the opener of the ACC Tournament, Boozer has been an unsung hero for the Blue Devils in its conference championship and win over Siena in the Round of 64.
“I just think it's his composure in these moments,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said on Friday in Greenville ahead of Duke’s practice. “Whether you have the opportunity or not, to play in the ACC Tournament in the moments he's been in, that kind of game like we had yesterday against Siena, you're either wired for it or you're not, and he is.”
Boozer is averaging 17.0 points per game on 21-of-40 (52.5-percent) shooting from the floor.
“His ability to get downhill for us, we've personalized and changed a couple things that we do to try to put him in a better position,” Scheyer added. “But he's really the guy that's made it happen. I just love the aggressiveness, but then also the composure that he's had.”
Duke needed everything it could get from the rookie when trailing by as many as 13 points against the Saints on Thursday afternoon.
“I think just to play confident,” Boozer said of advice that the injured Foster gave him entering the postseason.
“Obviously, it's a big moment in our season. If people aren't playing to our best potential and playing confident, we're not going to get the best out of everyone. So just being confident, being poised, and just trusting in the work that we put in all year.”
Duke will try and punch its ticket to the Sweet 16 with a victory over TCU in the Round of 32 on Saturday evening (5:15 p.m. ET, CBS).