No. 6 Duke Surges Past Texas, 75-60

Tuesday, November 4

Charlotte, N.C.

8:45 p.m.

Duke University

1-0,0-0ACC

Texas

0-1,0-0SEC

Texas

Duke

No. 6 Duke Surges Past Texas, 75-60

11/4/2025 11:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Quotes (PDF)Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The sixth-ranked Duke men's basketball team won its 26th consecutive season opener, defeating Texas 75-60 in the Dick Vitale Invitational at Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Freshman Cameron Boozer posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Isaiah Evans posted a career-high 23 points, highlighted by four first-half three-pointers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Texas scored the game's first two points, while Duke was unable to connect on its first five shot attempts. Dame Sarr gave the Blue Devils their first lead, with a corner three-pointer, at the 16:31 mark.
Both defenses were the story early in the game, with the score sitting at 5-3 after nearly seven minutes of play. Isaiah Evans drilled two quick three-pointers and Patrick Ngongba II slammed home his first bucket to bring Duke within one, 12-11, at the under-12 timeout.
Evans stayed hot from deep, connecting on back-to-back contested shots, giving the sophomore 12 points. An extended 12-2 run, spanning just under three minutes, pushed the Blue Devils' advantage to nine, 23-14, and forced a Texas timeout with 9:07 on the clock.
Duke was held without a field goal for over five minutes to end the opening half but the Blue Devils' defense limited Texas to a similar stretch before a floater by the Longhorns gave them a 33-32 lead with less than a minute before halftime.
Cameron Boozer scored Duke's first four points out of the break with a two-handed slam. The Blue Devils scored 10 unanswered to begin the second half, turning a one-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 42-33, at the 15:08 mark.
The lead grew to double-digits for the first time, 51-41, following a pair of free throws by Cayden Boozer. Texas responded with five quick points, cutting Duke's lead in half with 10 minutes remaining. Caleb Foster ended the Longhorns' scoring run with a pull-up jumper at the 9:05 mark.
Evans eclipsed 20 points for the first time in his career with four quick points on a pair of free throws and layup to push Duke's lead to 11, 59-48, with 7:41 to play. In the midst of an eight-point burst by Duke, Texas was forced to call timeout with 7:34 on the clock.
A defensive rebound, followed by a three-point play, gave Cameron Boozer a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds with 5:20 remaining.
The Blue Devils slowly increased their advantage as the clock ticked down, punctuated by an Evans' dunk in the final seconds to secure the 75-60 victory.

NOTES

Duke has now won its last 26 season openers. Since 1950, the Blue Devils are 69-7 (.908) in the first game of the season.
- The Blue Devils handed Texas just its third loss in its last 24 season openers.
With the win, Duke improves to 6-0 in the all-time series against Texas.
With the victory, Duke is now a combined 104-35 (.748) all-time in 13 current NBA venues.
The Blue Devils have won 34 of their last 43 at NBA venues.
Duke improves to 14-1 when playing at Spectrum Center, including 12 consecutive victories.
Duke held Texas to 60 total points, including just 27 after the half.
- The Longhorns made just nine field goals after intermission and six free throws.
- The Blue Devils held Texas scoreless in the first 5:06 of the second half.
- Duke limited Texas to two field goals over the final 6:21 of the contest.
- The Longhorns made just two of their final 10 field goal attempts.
- Texas shot just 31.0% from the floor during the second half.
The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 10-0 run over the first 4:52 of action to go from trailing 33-32 at the break to up 42-33.
The 60 total points for Texas were its fewest since totaling 60 at No. 5 Florida on Jan. 18, 2025.
Duke outscored Texas 11-6 in fast break points, aided by an 8-4 edge in steals.
All nine Blue Devils that played chalked up at least one assist, as Duke distributed 15 dimes on 22 field goals.
The Blue Devils led for 30:04 of the contest.
The victory marked head coach Jon Scheyer's 90th with the Blue Devils.
Isaiah Evans set a new career high, finishing the contest with 23 points. The sophomore shot 7-of-13 from the field, highlighted by a blistering 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Evans finished the contest with four three-pointers and has now made multiple triples in three of his last four games at Spectrum Center.
Evans has now made three or more triples 12 times in his Duke career. The Blue Devils are 12-0 in those contests.
As a freshman, Evans went 4-for-8 versus Georgia Tech and 2-for-4 versus Louisville during the 2025 ACC Tournament.
Cameron Boozer posted a double-double in his first collegiate game, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while adding a team-high three assists.
The freshman finished the first half with zero points and three rebounds before exploding in the second half for all 15 points and nine boards.
Patrick Ngongba II earned his second double-digit point performance of his career, finishing with 10. He had a career-high 12 versus North Carolina on March 14.
In his first college game, Dame Sarr collected eight points, led the team with three steals, and was second on the squad with six boards.

QUOTES

"That's one way to start off the season. I couldn't be more proud of our team. I thought we showed great fight. Obviously, there's a lot we can do better and clean up. A ton of respect for Sean Miller... for Texas. They're hard-nosed, everything you think of with a Sean Miller team, I thought they were. Hard-nosed, tough defensively, they made us really have to work and do some things we haven't seen yet. A lot of it, it's a credit to them. For our guys, I thought we stepped up and made some big-time winning plays. Start of the second half, for me, was a key moment. The way we responded, coming out of halftime, that group we had in, [Texas] didn't score for a little while. The 10-0 run was big. I thought Isaiah [Evans], his efficiency, was high level. He creates so much gravity, where guys are concerned with him, that opened a lot up for our team. And then for Cam [Boozer], first game as a freshman, doesn't have his best stuff. He comes out in the second half and has 15 [points] and 13 [rebounds] on an off night. Not bad at all. Really proud of our team. I think the thing to understand is that this is our fifth day together as a team. Maliq Brown, it's great to see him back out there. Obviously, he's still working through a lot. Lineups, rotations, things we're doing, this is a big time evolution. Where we're going, it's a long way away from where we are versus where we're going. But we're going there with some big time competitors and some big time players." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"It was obviously a tough first half. I think my teammates did a great job picking me up. [Coach] Scheyer challenged me at halftime, said that I played soft in the first half, which, you know, was true. It was true. Second half, had to change my mentality. Teammates did a great job finding me. We were the tougher team in the second half as a unit." - Duke freshman Cameron Boozer
"To be honest, I feel extremely comfortable. When I get out there, I feel all the love and all of the support. I just come to play and I know that I have a lot of people behind me. Especially when I'm here. I really do feel comfortable." - Duke sophomore Isaiah Evans on playing in Charlotte, where he played high school basketball (North Mecklenburg)

UP NEXT

No. 6 Duke plays its home opener Saturday, Nov. 8, welcoming Western Carolina to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils and Catamounts tip off at 1:30 p.m., with the game broadcast on The CW.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".

#GoDuke

(revised Nov. 5, 2025, with statistics corrections)