Isaiah Evans scored a career-high 23 points and got some offensive help as No. 6 Duke defeated Texas 75-60 in the season opener for both teams Tuesday night in Charlotte.
Highly touted freshman Cameron Boozer, son of former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, scored all 15 of his points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Patrick Ngongba II added 10 points.
The Blue Devils, who shot 42.3% from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range, opened the second half with a 10-0 run to surge ahead.
Dailyn Swain scored 16 points and Matas Vokietaitis and reserve Jordan Pope, who made three 3-pointers, each had 15 points for Texas, which was hurt by 16 turnovers and 32.2% shooting from the field. The Longhorns missed 12 of their 17 attempts from 3-point range.
It was billed as a neutral-court matchup, but there was a partisan Duke turnout as the Blue Devils played an in-state game.
Texas was within 51-48 after Swain’s basket with about 9 1/2 minutes to play. Duke scored the next eight points before the Longhorns’ drought ended with Vokietaitis’ three-point play.
Duke’s Caleb Foster countered with a 3-pointer while Texas went another two-plus minutes without scoring. The gap grew to 17 points with 2:38 to play.
Evans, a sophomore, made 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. Boozer missed all four of his 3-point attempts but went 9-for-12 on free throws.
Duke climbed to a 23-14 lead, courtesy of 14 points from Evans. But Texas posted an 11-3 run across the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half for a 33-32 lead at the break. The Blue Devils were 1-for-10 from the field with two turnovers during that stretch.
Duke made 4 of 8 first-half free throws, while the Longhorns were 11 of 12.
Boozer, who was dazzling during the preseason. was 0-for-7 in the first half. His first points came on free throws in the second half.
Maliq Brown, who didn’t play in the preseason for Duke because of a knee injury, was the first player off the bench. He scored three points.
