The Duke Blue Devils shut down the Louisville Cardinals in the second half of their ACC matchup. Defense was the biggest thing in Duke's comeback win.
Duke only scored eight more points in the second half than it did in the first half, but the Blue Devils held the Cardinals to just 26 points in the final 20 minutes. That was due in large part to freshman Dame Sarr almost completely shutting down Louisville's Ryan Conwell.
In the second half, Conwell scored just eight points in the second half, shooting 2-of-17 from the field, after scoring 16 points before halftime, as Sarr face-guarded him on the defensive end of the court.
Dame Sarr's defensive performance was one for the books
After the game, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer was asked about Sarr's defensive performance and how it helped lead the Blue Devils to victory. Scheyer couldn't say enough kind things about the freshman.
"I'm sure that we'll look back and see that he missed some shots, you know, no question, but I think overall, with a guy like [Conwell], you want to make him work for 'em... The first two threes were pretty clean looks, and so that wasn't good. That was on me, not our guys," Scheyer said. "But I thought just the fight, the discipline to make him score over the top... I think it was more about the fight and the effort by Dame [Sarr], by Caleb [Foster], by Isaiah [Evans] in the second half to really guard him."
As Caleb Foster, Isaiah Evans, and Cameron Boozer combined for 70 points to lead the offensive charge, Sarr undeniably led the defensive front and was a massive reason the Blue Devils were able to pull off the comeback win.
Coach Scheyer post-game presser pic.twitter.com/laUH0RPOXD
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 7, 2026
Sarr only scored four points on the other end of the court and brought down just four rebounds, but his unflappable defense was remarkable, especially as someone who is still extremely new to the collegiate basketball scene.
Duke outscored Louisville by 20 points in the second half, pushing the Blue Devils to their fourth comeback victory of the season after trailing at halftime.
While the win wasn't perfect, it was still another win for the Blue Devils, who improved to 14-1 overall and 3-0 against ACC opponents. Meanwhile, the Cardinals dropped to 11-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Next, Duke will face the No. 24 SMU Mustangs on Saturday, Jan. 10, in the Blue Devils' seventh ranked game of the season. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN.