Cameron Boozer and the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils had their work cut out for them in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. After trailing by 11 points at halftime, Duke stormed back to take down the No. 16 Siena Saints 71-65, keeping its national championship hopes alive.
Boozer continued his All-American freshman season with another solid performance against Siena. The freshman forward tallied a game-high 22 points on 4-of-11 shooting and 13-of-14 from the free-throw line, 13 rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes of action. Fellow freshman Isaiah Evans added 16 points and ten rebounds for the Blue Devils.
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With the performance in his NCAA Tournament debut, Boozer made some history for Duke. In fact, he became just the third Blue Devils player in the last 60 years to record 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a tournament debut.
Former Duke center Mike Gminski was the first to achieve this feat in program history, recording 25 points and 10 rebounds in a 63-62 win over Rhode Island during the 1977-78 season. RJ Barrett, now with the New York Knicks, was the second, tallying 26 points and 14 rebounds in an 85-62 first-round win over North Dakota State in the 2018-19 season.
Boozer and Evans also became the first Duke duo to each record 15 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a tournament game since 1990, when Christian Laettner and Robert Brickey achieved this.
"Cam Boozer had 22 points and 13 boards vs. Siena," DukeMBBStats wrote on X. "Cam is the third Duke player in the last 60 years with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in his tournament debut, joining RJ Barrett and Mike Gminski."
Boozer and Duke will now turn their attention to the second round, facing No. 9 seed TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday.
