Duke's Boozer Leads Surge in ACC Tournament

0:00On March 15, Duke Basketball faced a tough blow heading into the ACC tournament when sophomore Senator Patrick Ngangba and junior guard Caleb Foster were ruled out with foot injuries for the whole event. On a young team already short on experience, losing those two starters left big gaps, especially at center and point guard. The boo devils leaned on their length for defense, but handed the keys to freshman Caden Booser to run the back court. With national player of the year candidate Cameron Booser and senior Malik Brown holding down the front court, the pressure fell squarely on the rookie, to lead the offense. Common C, early on, questions swirled after a shaky quarter final win over eighth seed floor to state. Duke barely escaped with an 80-79 victory, giving up their worst shooting percentages in months and Booser struggled with just nine. Points on poor efficiency, but Booser quickly turned it around. He dropped 16 points in each of the next two games, including career highs, with solid

1:00rebounds and assists, while shooting 50% from the field. Duke rolled past 5C Clemson, 73-61, then beat second seed Virginia, 74-70, to claim the tournament title. Now heading into the NCAA tournament without Foster for at least the first three games, Booser has shown he can keep this squad surging toward another.