No. 6 Duke surges in second half to 84-73 win over No. 20 Louisville

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Jan 6, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time this season, Duke looked shaky, vulnerable, even rattled.

Louisville was hitting shots, blocking shots, making hustle plays. The No. 20 Cardinals, backed by a roaring crowd at the KFC Yum! Center, sensed the No. 6 Blue Devils could be beatable this night.

That was in the first half.

The second half was a complete reversal by the Blue Devils, who had beaten four teams ranked in the top 25 this season and were looking for a fifth win. They were poised. They ran their offense more effectively, They tightened up on defense.

The Blue Devils, after 40 minutes, were the better team, taking an 84-73 victory. Cameron Boozer had 27 points and Isaiah Evans 23, but this would be a gutsy team win.

After Louisville led 47-38 at halftime, the Blue Devils (14-1, 3-0 ACC) made it a possession-by-possession battle on both ends of the court. Cameron Boozer came up again for Duke. So did Evans, who backed up his career-high 28-point game in Saturday’s win at Florida State with another strong game.

Then there was Caleb Foster. The Duke guard, looking to attack the basket, scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, once shaking a fist after a drive and score.

A Boozer 3-pointer pushed Duke ahead 71-62 soon after the 8-minute timeout in the second half.

The Cardinals (11-4, 1-2 ACC) again played without point guard Mikel Brown, the freshman dynamo who should return soon from a back injury but was not ready for Tuesday’s game. While they missed him, it didn’t keep the Cards from finding others to do their part.

And not just Ryan Conwell. The Devils knew the 6-4 senior, Louisville’s leading scorer, would be a game-long problem, and he was, swishing three early 3-pointers and igniting for 16 of his 24 points as Louisville never trailed in the opening half

But what about Aly Khalifa? The 7-foot senior was averaging 2.1 points a game and had made five of 18 from the 3-point line — that’s 28.7% — before Tuesday.

In the first half, Khalifa was left open outside and decided to shoot a 3, banking in a brick of a shot. Then, he hit his second 3. Then a third. Then a fourth.

At halftime, Khalifa had 12 points and the Cards had the 47-38 lead. But Louisville, which was 10 of 21 from 3-point distance in the half, missed 9 of its first 10 in the second half in falling behind.

Some observations from the game:

Duke needed to refocus

Clearly frustrated at halftime as they walked off the court, the Blue Devils took the break to settle down, regroup and refocus.

There were some whistles and calls that bothered them in the first half. There were uncharacteristic bad passes and bad decisions. Offensively, they rushed too much.

But the Devils took the floor for the second half with a more confident demeanor. They hit four of their first five shots, quickly cutting into Louisville’s lead.

Foster, again playing with toughness, had a couple of baskets and Boozer and Evans scored. Just like that, Duke was feeling it and the Cards were the team looking stressed.

Duke edged ahead, but Louisville made a push. Neither team would flinch a lot in a hard-fought ACC game.

The Blue Devils’ only weakness was at the foul line. After a 23-of-25 showing at FSU, they two of their first four Tuesday and were 19 of 28 on Tuesday.

Ngongba needs to be wiser

Duke’s Patrick Ngongba has had times this season when a lack of maturity appears to have hurt him.

In Duke’ loss to Texas Tech before Christmas, Ngongba was involved in a big first-half play with Red Raiders star JT Toppin. Ngongba and Toppin both fell and Toppin initially was tagged with a third foul.

But after a review, Ngongba was ruled to have flopped on the play and assessed the foul on the play. If it was a basketball ploy, it did not work. Nor did he draw a charging foul later on Toppin jumping in front of him.

In Tuesday’s game, Ngongba and Louisville’s Kasean Pryor had a collision. Again, there was a review. Both were given Class-A technical fouls although the Yum! Center crowd, after watching the replay on the big board, let it be known who they believed was at fault.

It was Ngongba’s third foul and soon had him on the bench.

Those are all a part of playing basketball but the Devils don’t need their big man taking needless risks.

Duke, Louisville will meet again soon

It was the first time Duke and Louisville had faced off since the ACC Tournament championship game last March. The Blue Devils, with a different cast, won as Kon Knueppel was the tournament MVP.

Both the Devils and Cards are likely to stay near the top of the ACC standings this season, although the league is a lot more competitive. They meet again Jan. 26 in Durham and could meet again in March.

Brown likely will in the Cards lineup for the game this month in Durham. That will make for a different dynamic.