No. 4 Duke Fights Past No. 22 Arkansas, 80-71

Thursday, November 27

Chicago, Ill.

8 p.m.

Duke University

8-0,0-0ACC

Arkansas

5-2,0-0SEC

Duke

Arkansas

No. 4 Duke Fights Past No. 22 Arkansas, 80-71

11/27/2025 10:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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CHICAGO – No. 4 Duke and No. 22 Arkansas played to a Thanksgiving classic Thursday at the United Center with the Blue Devils scoring 27 of the final 38 points to earn an 80-71 victory. Freshman Cameron Boozer led the way for Duke with the second 35-point game of his young career. Boozer is the first Duke freshman in program history to reach 35 or more points in a game twice.

The Razorbacks trailed 41-35 at the half, but stormed through the first eight minutes after intermission and took a 57-52 advantage before extending it to 60-53 with 10:09 to play. It was all Blue Devils from there as Boozer and junior Caleb Foster combined for 33 of Duke's 39 points in the second half, including the team's final 14. Arkansas was held without a field goal in the final 2:58.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Patrick Ngongba II opened the scoring, stepping into a three-pointer off an offensive rebound by Cameron Boozer. Arkansas responded with the next seven points and held the 7-3 lead heading into the first media timeout of the night.
Nikolas Khamenia snapped a Duke stretch of over five minutes without a made field goal, narrowing the Blue Devils' deficit to three, 12-9. Isaiah Evans tied the game on Duke's next possession, drilling a corner three-pointer.
Two more makes from deep by Evans put Duke in front, 20-17, with 8:41 on the clock. A driving layup by Boozer, followed by a fast-break dunk from Dame Sarr, gave Duke its largest lead of the night so far, 29-22.
Boozer made another shot from deep on the next possession, making it 10 unanswered points for Duke and forcing an Arkansas timeout with 5:10 remaining before halftime.
Boozer continued the scoring surge, punching home his 15th point of the half with just over three minutes before the break. After Duke took a 13-point lead, 41-28, the Razorbacks scored seven consecutive points to pull back within single-digits at halftime.
Duke's lead was cut to just two points, 47-45, after three minutes of action out of halftime. An eight-point run by the Razorbacks put them in front, 50-47, and Duke called timeout with 16:13 on the clock.
A stretch of 5-of-7 shooting from the field by Arkansas pushed it in front by five, 57-52, at the under-12 timeout. After a four-minute field-goal drought, Caleb Foster made a corner trifecta and Boozer went coast-to-coast for a slam, pulling Duke within two, 60-58, with 8:50 remaining.
Boozer converted a three-point play with just over six minutes remaining to level the score at 64. Ngongba II laid in a put-back bucket to put the Blue Devils back in front, 66-64, forcing an Arkansas timeout with 5:14 on the timer.
A steal and layup by Foster helped the Blue Devils remain in front, 68-66, at the final media break of the contest.
Arkansas pulled within one at 70-69 on a three with 2:58 to go but could never force a tie.
Foster immediately answered the Razorback three with one of his own at 2:31 to push Duke's lead to four, 73-69.
Boozer went on a four-point run with a dunk and two free throws to extend the Blue Devils' lead to 77-69 with 1:06 remaining and put the game out of reach.

NOTES

Thursday was the sixth meeting between the two teams.
- Duke evened up the series, 3-3
The victory marked head coach Jon Scheyer's 97th with the Blue Devils.
Duke's 8-0 start is the best open to a season under Scheyer.
- The eight wins are the most to begin a season since the 2017-18 squad started the campaign with 11 consecutive victories.
The Blue Devils are a combined 106-35 (.752) all-time in 13 current NBA venues.
- Thursday marked the 10th Duke win at the United Center, moving to 10-2 at the venue.
- The Blue Devils have won 36 of their last 45 at NBA venues, including a 4-1 mark last season and a 15-6 (.714) ledger under Scheyer.
Duke is 17-1 when playing on Nov. 27.
The Blue Devils entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.330), while Arkansas arrived at the United Center averaging nearly 50-percent (.499) from the field.
- Duke held Arkansas to 26-of-64 (.406) shooting from the field.
On the glass, Duke won the rebounding battle, 37-29.
- The Blue Devils' string of double-digit advantages on the boards was narrowly snapped at five, having finished +21 twice (at Army West Point, vs. Indiana State), +11 against Kansas, +20 vs. Niagara and +17 vs. Howard.
In the final 10 minutes, Duke held a 14-4 edge on the glass.
- Duke finished with an advantage in points in the paint (42-28) and second-chance points (25-10).
Arkansas entered Thursday's game ranked fourth nationally in fastbreak points (25.3), but finished with just 14.
Duke's defense held Arkansas to 71 points. The Razorbacks entered the game averaging 91.0 points per game.
- The Blue Devils have held each opponent this season under their respective scoring average.
Duke registered one scoring run of at least 10 points.
- The Blue Devils have 16 double-digit scoring runs this season and have allowed only one by an opponent.
Cameron Boozer scored a career-high tying 35 points, including 15 within a seven-minute span from 10:06 to 3:09 in the first half.
- The freshman matched his career high for points and is the first Duke freshman with multiple games scoring at least 35 points.
- Boozer scored 20 points in the second half, the most in a second half this season by a Blue Devil.
- Boozer finished just one rebound shy of a double-double and shot 7-of-9 (.778) from the floor in the second half, while contributing six free throws.
Caleb Foster logged eight assists, a new career high, including six in the opening half.
- His eight dimes surpassed the seven helpers he finished with at Pittsburgh on Jan. 9, 2024.
- Foster added 15 points, a new season high. Foster scored 13 of those points in the second half.
- The junior guard ended the evening with a plus-minus of +14, the game's second-best tally.
- Foster continued his strong performances at the United Center, having scored a career-high 18 points against Michigan State in the same venue on Nov. 14, 2023.
Boozer and Foster combined for 33 of Duke's 39 points in the second half, including the team's final 14.
Isaiah Evans made three 3-pointers, all inside the first 12 minutes of the contest.
- Duke is 16-0 during Evans' career when he makes at least three triples in a game.
Patrick Ngongba II registered 11 points and five rebounds, marking his fourth consecutive contest scoring in double figures.
Nikolas Khamenia ended the game with the best +/- of all players, with a +18.
- Khamenia was one of five Blue Devils to grab five or more rebounds.
Maliq Brown tallied three assists, his season high.

QUOTES

"First, Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. That was a big-time experience for our team. Hats off to Arkansas. Want to start with a ton of respect for Coach [Calipari], you know, he's been doing this a long time. He's as good of a coach that's out there. They have really talented players. Those two guards, man, I thought they made some big-time shots and they're very difficult. They put a lot of pressure on our defense. I thought the toughness and character that our group showed was great. You're down seven in the second half and I thought that was a key moment for our team, just to learn how to win some games like that. That was the first time being put in that situation. And Cam [Boozer] throughout, what he did, he just put us on his back, 35 [points] and nine [rebounds], seven fouls drawn, passing, doing everything, defending. And then Caleb [Foster], I'm proud of Caleb. This is part of what college basketball is all about. We've been on a journey together, he's hung tough; he's always wanted me to be honest with him, and he really came through in a big way tonight. The eight assists, the couple key baskets, but then also the defense. Arkansas is going to be really good, and that was a great win for our team tonight." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer

UP NEXT

No. 4 Duke (8-0) returns home for the ACC/SEC Challenge, hosting No. 10 Florida (4-2) on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., broadcast live on ESPN.

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