Duke Freshman Catches Fire in Second Half Against Louisville

The No. 5-ranked Duke Blue Devils improved to 19-1 overall and 8-0 in ACC action following a dominant 83-52 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium over No. 20 Louisville (14-6, 4-4 ACC) on Monday night. This was potentially the most complete 40 minutes of basketball that Duke has played all season on both sides of the ball.

This was a complete flip from how the Blue Devils looked the first time around against the Cardinals, at least in the first half. On Jan. 6, when Duke headed to the KFC Yum! Center to face Louisville for the first time, it found itself in a 47-38 deficit heading into the halftime break.

Jan 26, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer directs his team during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Now, the Blue Devils went on to win the game by a score of 84-73, but the lack of consistently elite defense for all 40 minutes was an area of concern.

This time around, Duke held Louisville to its lowest point total of the season, holding it to 30% shooting from the field and 11-of-34 (32%) shooting from three-point range. This is a Louisville squad that can be one of the most prolific offenses in college basketball if it gets hot, and Duke never gave it a chance.

Nik Khamenia caught fire in the second half 🔥

Scored all of his 14 points in the last 12 minutes 🪣 pic.twitter.com/bNnfl234Qd
— Recruits News (@recruitsnews) January 27, 2026

The Blue Devils got contributions from everywhere, including 25 points from their bench. But one Blue Devil rookie caught fire in the second half to completely open the game up.

Nik Khamenia Catches Fire in Second Half of Duke Victory

Khamenia was one of the 5-star recruits part of Scheyer and Co.'s No. 1 overall 2025 recruiting class, but he struggled to find time on the floor once league play began.

Across the team's first three league games, Khamenia averaged just 9.7 minutes a night and scored five total points. It was beginning to look like he was in danger of falling out of the rotation almost entirely.

Nikolas Khamenia. That’s the tweet.

14 second-half points. 3 triples. McDonald’s All-American moment at Cameron. pic.twitter.com/Ao2kj9aCod
— Vince Wolfram (@vincewolfram15) January 27, 2026

However, the 6' 8" wing has found himself back on the court as of late, and put together arguably his best outing in a Blue Devil uniform in the second half against the Cards.

In 15 minutes, Khamenia tallied a career-high 14 points on 5-of-6 (83.3%) shooting from the field and 3-of-4 (75%) shooting from the perimeter. The Los Angeles native made himself available, moved without the basketball with precision, and earned every minute he got on the floor.

Khamenia Working Back Into Rotation

Khamenia is averaging 19.4 minutes a game over the Blue Devils' last five, and just tallied his second double-digit scoring output in his last four contests. He did so twice over Duke's first 16 games of the 2025-26 campaign.

The Los Angeles native is now averaging 5.5 points and 3.2 rebounds on 42% shooting this season.

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