Boozer, No. 1 overall seed Duke get rolling after halftime to beat TCU 81-58 and reach Sweet 16

By Canadian Press on March 21, 2026.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Cameron Boozer shook off a quiet first half to finish with 19 points and No. 1 overall seed Duke shot 61.5% after halftime Saturday to pull away from TCU for a 81-58 win in a physical second-round game at the NCAA Tournament.

The freshman voted a unanimous first-team Associated Press All-American earlier this week had just two points and missed his only shot in the first half. But he scored three times during the 11-0 second-half burst — twice on high-low feeds from fellow big Patrick Ngongba II in his return to the lineup — as Duke (34-2) finally shook free of the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs (23-12).

That 11-0 run was the capper on a 26-6 surge that spanned nearly nine minutes, with TCU missing 15 of 17 shots after Jayden Pierre’s layup tied it at 44-all with 13:56 left.

The Blue Devils opened the tournament with an uncharacteristically shaky performance that had them flirting with only the third 16-versus-1 upset against Siena. This time, they trailed only briefly in the second half on the way to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season under Jon Scheyer, earning a trip to the nation’s capital to face the St. John’s-Kansas winner Friday.

Micah Robinson scored 18 points for TCU.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Aaron Beard, The Associated Press