College Hoops Today: Duke Downs Michigan

This week, Cameron Boozer had another strong game as Duke earned a statement win over No. 1 Michigan; AJ Dybantsa just missed a triple double, leading BYU to an upset over sixth-ranked Iowa State; and UCLA – behind a big double-double by Donovan Dent — shook off a week of trouble and stormed back from 23 down to shock No. 10 Illinois in overtime. Other college basketball stories we’re tracking include…

Cameron Boozer Keeps Contributing

When we last checked in on the Duke Blue Devils, they were putting the finishing touches on a (for them) second straight meh season, but this team has been simply dominant since.

Duke went 35-4 in 2024-25, going all the way to the Final Four before bowing out, and this season the Blue Devils are even better with 25 wins and just two losses as we head into the home stretch. They’ve won four straight and 14 of 15.

As mentioned in the intro, Duke made a statement on Saturday, riding the second best adjusted defense in the country past the Wolverines, 68-63.

Freshman forward Cameron Boozer continues to leave his mark on every win, flirting with a trouble double (18 points, 10 boards and seven assists, while adding two blocks). Early this season, you may recall he scored 35 in a game to match the second highest by a Duke freshman ever; less than two weeks later, he did it again.

And while Boozer seems to have hit a bit of wall scoring wise lately (four straight games with 22 or fewer points, if you want to call that a slump), he’s continued to do strong work on the glass and is even blocking more shots than usual lately (four over the last four games) while developing a strong connection with junior guard Caleb Foster. Anyway you dissect it, he’s enjoyed an incredible college debut, getting a ton of touches to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists per game. Hell, Boozer is even draining 1.5 treys per game for good measure.

Carlos’ son is the real deal, and really, you’d be hard pressed to find a player that’s had a bigger impact on his team this season, never mind a freshman. Boozer is the hands-down favourite to be the National Player of the Year (in fact, FanDuel lists him at -7000 to win the John R. Wooden award).

You’ve got to figure Boozer will definitely go in the top three of this year’s NBA draft, with a good chance to be the No. 1 overall pick.

A projected PF in the NBA, his game doesn’t differ greatly from his dad in that he’s capable of scoring from various places in the offensive zone. No, he won’t likely ever be a dynamic rim protector, but he could very well be the next Al Horford.

UMBC’s Huge Step Forward

In 2023-24, the Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers scuffled through an awful campaign with an 11-21 mark. And while they showed modest improvement last season, nothing could have prepared us for the massive step forward UMBC has taken this season.

With a 66-62 victory over Albany on Saturday, the Retrievers have now won six straight and nine of 10 to move to 18-8 (11-2 in the American East). Could UMBC consolidate its regular season success with a conference tourney win to make it to March Madness for the third time in the school’s 40-year history?

Leading the way Saturday was junior guard Ace Valentine. The school’s leading distributor has picked up his scoring of late, putting up 14 points, five assists, three steals and two treys against Albany. Valentine has now scored 12 or more in five of the last six games while recording back-to-back five-dime efforts. He’s also canned two three-pointers in three straight games while totaling four steals over the last two as he puts his imprint all over UMBC’s wins.

In becoming a full-time starter this season, Valentine has really stepped up, and while he hasn’t shot quite as well overall this season, his outside shooting touch has improved dramatically. He’s also getting to the charity stripe more frequently and become a better ball distributor.

Valentine has some temperament issues that he’s working through, and while he’s not a 2026 NBA draft prospect, another season of improvement as a senior could earn him a look with someone’s Summer League squad in 2027.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

Canadian rock band Trooper formed in 1975 and are still at it today. They had a string of hits in the ‘70s, but perhaps none bigger than 1978’s “Raise a Little Hell,” which was the band’s only song to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. The tune also showed up on the 1980 compilation album Superstars Salute New Massey Hall.