Duke's Cam Boozer Puts Up Big Numbers in Road Win vs. Michigan State

It seems that no matter how many tests get thrown Cam Boozer's way, he always finds the ability to respond. The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils are rolling to start the season and are in contention for a National Championship. Correspondingly, the freshman forward is in the conversation for National Player of the Year.

Duke faced its biggest challenge of the season thus far with a road game against Michigan State in East Lansing. Against the No. 7 Spartans, the Blue Devils pulled off a 66-60 win, with Boozer being the catalyst in the victory.

The 6-foot-9 power forward led the game with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, while also leading Duke in the rebounding department with an impressive 15 boards. He rounded out his two-way performance with five assists, two steals and a block, committing just one turnover.

The potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft had just one made field goal and two points at halftime, being limited in Jon Scheyer's offense for a good chunk of the game. However, he responded in the final 20 minutes, notching 16 points in that stretch.

What was even more impressive was that even though he wasn't scoring in the first period, Boozer was still generating offense for the Blue Devils. Three of his five assists came in the first half, so he wasn't so much of a net negative for Duke.

Cam Boozer is playing like a NPOY contender 🔥

18 PTS
15 REBS
5 ASTS

vs the No. 7 team in the country on the road 👏 pic.twitter.com/zTtGO8xxhy
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 6, 2025

The Miami native is now averaging 22.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.7 steals and a block per game on 56-37-77 shooting splits. He has been incredibly efficient, displaying abilities as a three-level scoring big man while also defending opponents at a high level on the other end.

Right now, Boozer is in competition with fellow freshmen AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and Darryn Peterson (Kansas) as the consensus top three in June's draft. There have certainly been more college basketball stars who have a case to go that high, and the 2026 class is regarded as one of the deepest in years. However, Boozer has separated himself from the rest of the pack.

If he wins National Player of the Year, Boozer would be the second straight Blue Devil to win after Cooper Flagg took home honors last season. He would also be the third Duke player to win in the last 10 years, with Zion Williamson also winning it in 2019.

The similarity between the two? Both went No. 1 overall in the draft.