The Duke basketball team was finally back in action after a long summer away from the court on Tuesday night and showed flashes of why many people believe this team can be a National Championship contender.
Freshman star Cam Boozer put up 33 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists in the 96-71 victory but one of the major questions about the Blue Devils entering the season was its point guard play and there are still concerns exiting the exhibition.
Returning junior Caleb Foster got the start and he struggled scoring the ball, finishing with only three points on 1-of-6 shooting. The performance was similar to some of his struggles last season.
However, he was able to impact the game in other ways with seven rebounds and four assists, something he failed to do a year ago when he saw his role greatly diminished.
The biggest competition for Foster in trying to maintain his starting spot in the backcourt is freshman Cayden Boozer, who is still trying to adjust to the speed and physicality of college basketball.
It showed in the first half that Boozer was taken aback by the experience of UCF, missing all three of his shots from the field. But the offense appeared to flow better when he was on the floor with three assists.
He looked much more comfortable and confident in the second half, nearly playing the same number of minutes as Caleb Foster yet scoring seven points and two assists after the break.
With Boozer on the floor, Duke outscored the Knight by 27 points compared to just a six-point advantage in Foster’s 25 minutes.
The questions about Duke’s point guard play aren’t going away anytime soon and Jon Scheyer will hope for more answers when the team concludes its exhibition slate on Sunday night (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2) against Tennessee.