Duke’s Boozer Catalyst in Victory Once Again

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The Duke Blue Devils (18-1, 7-0 ACC) have now rattled off seven straight victories to begin ACC action following a 90-69 victory over Wake Forest (11-9, 2-5 ACC) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The Blue Devils are the lone remaining undefeated ACC team in league play.
The victory will count as a Quadrant 2 win for the Blue Devils, but is one of those games that Duke has to have to continue to cement its case for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Losses outside of Quadrant 1 can be detrimental to top teams looking to stay on the 1-seed line.
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Duke didn't look elite defensively for all 40 minutes, but played one of its better offensive outings all season long. The Blue Devils shot 50% from the field while assisting on 16 of 31 made field goals.
The Blue Devils also went 21-of-24 (88%) from the charity stripe, which is an extremely promising sign for the program and its fans going forward. Duke has dominated its opponents in terms of free throw attempts, but its inability to knock them down at a consistent rate has plagued the team at times.

In Duke's lone loss of the season against Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20, the Blue Devils went just 17-of-29 (59%) from the line en route to a one-point 82-81 defeat.
Jon Scheyer has previously said that his team thrives offensively when it gets the ball inside early and works out of that, and the Blue Devils executed that plan to perfection against the Demon Deacons.

Duke destroyed Wake in the paint, winning that battle 48-16. The Blue Devils also totaled 16 offensive rebounds and are now averaging over 14 offensive boards a game over their last three contests.
There's obviously still a lot of growth for this team to do over the next few months before the postseason, but it looks like the Blue Devils are starting to find consistency.

Cameron Boozer Dominates Once Again
Boozer was once again the catalyst for Duke's success, and it's becoming impossible to argue against him for National Player of the Year honors.
The prized rookie went for 32 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals on 11-of-20 (55%) shooting from the field and 3-of-8 (37.5%) shooting from three-point range. This was Boozer's second game in a row tallying over 30 points.

Duke's rookie sensation continues to be the most dominant player in college basketball.
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Hugh Straine is an accomplished writer and proud Bucknell University alumnus, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. He has served as editor of The Bucknellian, worked as an analyst for ESPN+ and Hulu, and currently reports on college sports as a general reporter for On SI.