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  • The Duke Blue Devils Absolutely Dominate Notre Dame In An ACC Blowout, 100-56

The Duke Blue Devils Absolutely Dominate Notre Dame In An ACC Blowout, 100-56

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Basketball

The top-ranked Duke men' s basketball team turned in a dominant all-around performance Tuesday evening as the Blue Devils finished the contest with six players in double figures en route to a commanding 100-56 victory over Notre Dame at a sold out Purcell Pavilion.

Freshman Cameron Boozer led the charge with his 16th double-double of the season, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Boozer shot 5-of-8 from the field and a career-best 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Darren Harris was next in line with a collegiate-best 16 points – 12 of which came after the half.

Junior Caleb Foster and sophomore Patrick Ngongba II each chipped in 13 points, with classmate Isaiah Evans and rookie Cayden Boozer rounding out the double-digit scorers with 10.

The victory was the Blue Devils' first time scoring 100 points in a regulation ACC road game since 1999, and the 44-point difference marked the largest margin of defeat for Notre Dame at home all-time.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Duke got off to a fast start and held a 16-4 lead at the under-16 media timeout. The Blue Devils were 5-of-5 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, with Ngongba (6) and Cameron Boozer (5) combining for 11 of the points.
  • The Blue Devils extended the advantage to 16 points (20-4) before Notre Dame knocked down a triple to briefly halt the run.
  • Duke scored 13 of the next 21 points to push the margin to 33-14, getting seven more points from Cameron Boozer and two threes from Evans.
  • Duke's stalwart defense continued to limit the scoring opportunities for the Fighting Irish, allowing just four field goals over the remainder of the half. On the other end, Duke's offense continued to fire on all cylinders, taking a a 54-22 lead into the break.
  • Cameron Boozer led the first-half efforts with 20 points and nine boards. He shot 5-of-6 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the line.
  • As a team, the Blue Devils fired at a 51.7 percent clip, held a plus-16 margin on the glass (26-10) and assisted on 13 of their 15 field goals.
  • Duke kept its foot on the gas in the second half, with the margin reaching the 40-point threshold (76-36) on Foster's triple at the 11:42 mark of the frame. Harris found the hot hand during this stretch with eight points, including two threes.
  • Cayden Boozer and Foster added layups, Ngongba ripped off the next seven Duke points – including 4-of-5 at the line – and Khamenia cashed in another Blue Devil triple to make it a 90-48 contest.
  • Six more free throws and buckets from Cayden Boozer and Harris putting the finish touches on the dominant performance, with Duke locking down the 100-56 win.

NOTES

  • Duke has won 36 of their last 38 games against conference opponents.
  • Across the last two seasons, Duke owns the best record in Division I college basketball, at 61-6.
    • Since Thanksgiving 2024, the Blue Devils have achieved a record of 57-4 (.934).
  • The Blue Devils lead the all-time series against Notre Dame, 33-8.
    • Since Notre Dame joined the ACC, the series favors Duke, 14-6, and the Blue Devils have won 12 of the last 13, including six in-a-row.
  • Duke is 18-11 when playing on Feb. 24.
  • Duke scored a season-best 54 first half points against Notre Dame, two more than the 52 put up against Howard (11/23/25).
  • The Blue Devils connected on 27-of-58 field goals (45.8 percent), knocked down 12-of-33 threes (36.4 percent) and 34-of-38 free throws (89.5 percent).
    • Twenty of the 27 made buckets were assisted.
    • Their 12 made threes against Notre Dame ties a season-high for most in an ACC game (Syracuse, Florida State).
    • The Blue Devils' 34 made free throws and 38 attempts were both season highs.
  • Tuesday's game was Duke's 293rd played when ranked No. 1 in the country, topping UCLA's 257 for the best total all-time (since 1949).
    • Duke is 251-42 when ranked No. 1 in the country.
    • Since 1998, the Blue Devils have played 191 games as the top-ranked team, more than twice as many as the next best tally (84 by North Carolina).
  • The Fighting Irish entered Tuesday's game averaging 74.4 points per game, but were held to 56, 18.4 below their season average.
    • Duke's defense has held all but two of their 28 opponents below their scoring average.
  • Duke began Saturday's game holding its opponents to 63.1 points per game, the third-best scoring defense in the country.
    • Notre Dame was held to under that average, scoring just 56 points.
  • The Fighting Irish entered the contest shooting 44.9 percent overall from the field, but Duke's defensive limited the Fighting Irish to 19-of-52 (36.5 percent).
  • Entering Tuesday night, Duke topped the ACC and ranked seventh nationally for rebounding margin (+10.0).
    • The Blue Devils outrebounded Notre Dame by 22 caroms (49-27) and have finished with a positive margin on the glass in 24 games this season.
    • Duke has finished with a double-digit margin on the glass in 15 games this season.
    • Tuesday marked the seventh time this season the Blue Devils have achieved a rebounding advantage of 20 boards or more.
  • Duke began the game leading the league, and ranked seventh nationally, for scoring margin (+19.3).
    • The Blue Devils defeated Notre Dame by 44 points, outpacing their season average for scoring margin.
    • The margin of victory is Duke's largest over Notre Dame, 10 points more than the previous mark (34) from Feb. 15, 2020.
    • The loss is also the Fighting Irish's largest at Purcell Pavilion all-time and their worst home loss since 1898.
  • Duke registered two scoring runs of at least 10 points, increasing its kill shot season total to 31.
  • The Blue Devils swept the specialty stats, with leads in points off turnovers (23-5), second chance points (14-7), bench points (32-21), points in the paint (30-22) and fastbreak points (19-3).
  • Duke has now connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,292 straight games, the longest streak nationally.
  • The Blue Devils finished with 100 points – the fourth time this season Duke has reached triple digits.
    • Tuesday was the first time since 1999 that the Blue Devils scored 100 points in an ACC road game during regulation.
  • Six Blue Devils finished the game in double figures, marking the second time this season Duke has had at least six players with 10 or more points (vs. Niagara).
  • Cameron Boozer finished the game with 24 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 12-of-14 from the line, while adding 13 rebounds, three steals and two assists.
    • Tuesday's game marks the freshman's 16th double-double of the season and ninth with at least 20 points.
    • Boozer connected on a career-high 12 free throws, while matching a career-best with 14 attempts.
  • Darren Harris netted 12 points after halftime and finished with a career-best 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor. He knocked down a pair of threes and went 6-of-6 at the line.
  • Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba chipped in 13 points apiece.
    • Foster shot an efficient 4-of-6 from the floor and knocked down 3-of-5 from deep. He reached double figures for the 10th time this season and 26th time in his career.
    • Ngongba shot 80 percent (4-of-5) on the night and went 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) at the line - tallying double-digits for the 18th time this season and 19th time as a Blue Devil.
  • Cayden Boozer and Isaiah Evans rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points each.
    • All 10 of Boozer's points came after the intermission.
    • Boozer posted his ninth career double-figure game, while Evans hit the marker for the 23rd time this season and 33rd for his career.
  • Maliq Brown pulled down double-digit rebounds for the first time this season, finishing the game with 10 boards, including four on the offensive glass.

QUOTES

  • "I was really proud of our maturity and our readiness coming in. Obviously, that's not Notre Dame's team. They've had terrible injuries this year. The guys they have are playing very hard. We knew [Braeden] Shrewsbury and [Cole] Certa, how dangerous those two guys are. I thought it was our defense in the beginning and establishing the paint, but we also are well aware that's not the team that Notre Dame came into the year with. Really proud of our effort. Really grateful. Every conference win that you can get is a big one." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer

UP NEXT

  • No. 1 Duke (26-2, 14-1 ACC) returns home to host No. 11 Virginia (25-3, 13-2 ACC).
  • The Blue Devils and Cavaliers tip off at 12 p.m. Fans can watch live on ESPN.