Three Outrageous Stats From Duke’s 44-Point Drubbing of Notre Dame

No. 1 Duke is peaking at the right time, just days before the calendar flips to March, and ACC foe Notre Dame could do little to keep the Blue Devils from pouring it on during Tuesday night’s game in South Bend.

Duke dominated the Fighting Irish 100–56 to move to 26–2 on the season and 14–1 in conference play. The Blue Devils hit triple-digits for the fifth-time this season and the second time in just three games, with a statement win over then-No. 1 Michigan in between.

Forward Cameron Boozer, a projected top-three pick in the upcoming NBA draft, led all scorers with 24 points in as many minutes, doing most of his damage in the first half before enjoying a rest for much of the second. He was one of six Duke players in double-digits for the game, joined by starters Patrick Ngongba II (13 points), Caleb Foster (13) and Isaiah Evans (10) as well as Darren Harris (16) and Cayden Boozer (10) off the bench.

As is often the case with a blowout of this magnitude, some history was made: both the good kind for the Blue Devils and the very bad kind for Notre Dame. Here are three stats and facts that stand out after a dominant performance for Duke.

Notre Dame 22, Cameron Boozer 20

That was the tally at the half. Yes, Boozer nearly outscored the Fighting Irish himself, while his teammates added 34 points to make this one a runaway early on.

Boozer also registered the same number of assists as the entire Notre Dame roster and logged just one fewer rebound before the break.

Cameron Boozer's stat line in the first half is almost the same as the entire Notre Dame team 😮 pic.twitter.com/0dknhR88yf
— ESPN (@espn) February 25, 2026

He’d finish with 24 points on 5-of-8 from the field, knocking down a pair of threes and 12-of-14 free throws. His 13 rebounds led all players and he tied Maliq Brown with a game-high three steals.

Even in just 24 minutes, Boozer slightly bumped his season averages to 22.7 points and a hair over 10 rebounds per game.

Jon Scheyer makes ACC history with second 40+ point road blowout

Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer calls a play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. — Duke coach Jon Scheyer pushed his career coaching record to 115–24 with Tuesday’s win at Notre Dame. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Mike Krzyzewski. Roy Williams. Dean Smith. Gary Williams. Jim Boeheim. Lefty Driesell. Tony Bennett. Some of the greatest coaches in college basketball history have coached in the ACC.

And amazingly, none of them accomplished the career feat that Scheyer did, not even all the way into his fourth year leading the Blue Devils.

With Tuesday’s 44-point win at Notre Dame, Scheyer became the first coach in league history to win multiple conference road games by at least 40 points, per ESPN. His first came back on Jan. 28, 2023 at Georgia Tech, 86–43. It was another balanced offensive effort, with Kyle Filipowski leading the way with 18 points. Just one member of the Yellow Jackets hitting double-digits. (Tristan Maxwell scored 10 off the bench.)

While Scheyer has coached in a relative down period for the ACC, and quality across the board in the now-18 team league and college basketball as a whole varies, it remains a remarkable feat for a 38-year-old coach in just his 139th game leading a program. Following a legend like Coach K is nearly impossible, but Scheyer has checked just about every box.

Duke dealt Notre Dame its worst home loss since the 19th century

You read that right.

Back in 1898, Notre Dame men’s basketball dropped a game to “Chicago First Regiment,” an amateur team that largely played in local YMCA league games in the Windy City. The 64–8 defeat was one of the first official games played by the Fighting Irish program.

Tuesday’s 44-point home loss to Duke doesn’t quite match that primordial loss from 128 years ago, but it is the worst home loss for the program since that 56-point 1898 defeat.

Notre Dame would go on to lose this game by 44 points, making it the team's worst home loss since 1898 😱 pic.twitter.com/NjQpN6qDFa
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) February 25, 2026

At 12–16 (3–12 ACC), this is a lost season for Micah Shrewsberry’s program with three regular season games to go. Still, he’d certainly prefer that his team doesn’t offer more reasons for the ESPN broadcasts to flip through the ugliest portions of the program’s record book.

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