After foiling Flagg in 2024, KU basketball faces another Duke star in Cameron Boozer
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas defense contained Cooper Flagg in 2024; Jayhawks will be tested again in 2025.
- KU must devise new perimeter and interior assignments to limit Cameron Boozer.
- Duke presents length and draft talent; KU needs sharper offense and focus.
Kansas’ suffocating defense on eventual No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg proved pivotal in the Jayhawks defeating Duke 75-72 last Nov. 26 in the Las Vegas Showdown at T-Mobile Arena in Nevada.
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound freshman forward with a 7-foot wingspan was held to 13 points (5-of-9 shooting) — six below his average — primarily by KU senior KJ Adams, who drew the defensive assignment on the 2025 consensus national player of the year.
Now, a year later, the Jayhawks are game-planning for a Champions Classic meeting with a Blue Devils team led by another fab freshman.
Cameron Boozer, a 6-9, 250-pound native of Miami, has averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds entering Tuesday’s game between Duke (4-0) and KU (3-1). Tipoff is 8 p.m. Central at Madison Square Garden in New York. It will be shown live on ESPN.
“They are loaded again,” KU coach Bill Self said of Duke, which fell to Houston 70-67 in the Final Four semifinals in Flagg’s one-and-done season, “and they’ve got a guy (Boozer) that could foul out a whole team. So we’ve got to figure out some way to guard him.”
Adams, who is now on Self’s support staff as he rehabs from Achilles tendon surgery that has delayed the start of his pro career, of course, is out of eligibility and unable to try to corral Boozer as he did Flagg a year ago.
Of course, he wasn’t the only standout on Duke’s 2024-25 team.
KU, which was No. 1 in the country at the time, upended a No. 11-rated squad with two other eventual 2025 first-round draft picks: Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, who had 11 and four points respectively versus the Jayhawks. Second-round picks Tyrese Proctor and Sion James scored 15 and 10 points respectively.
“Duke’s good and they are young again. People are saying, ‘Are they as good as they were last year?’ I don’t know talent wise,” Self said. “How many first-rounders did they have last year? I don’t know if they have five first-rounders this year or four. But what they do have … they execute their stuff, I think, better early in the season than what their team did last year.
“... They really execute. And they’re long, the fourth-longest standing height defensive team in America. And last year, they were the biggest.”
Duke has two players listed in ESPN analyst Jeremy Woo’s top 10 for the 2026 draft. They are: Boozer at No. 3 overall, plus 6-8 freshman wing Dame Sarr, who has averaged 9.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in four games.
Sarr, projected as the No. 10 overall pick, has a 6-11 wingspan. Sophomore guard/small forward Isaiah Evans (13.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg) currently is listed as a first-round pick by ESPN at No. 20, while sophomore center Patrick Ngongba (11.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg) is currently rated the 27th best draft prospect and 6-8 freshman forward Nikolas Khamenia (7.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg) the 34th by ESPN.
“They’re going to play to their length and they’re going to gap us and do some things that we’ve got to take advantage of and drive a gap, make the extra pass and then play behind that,” Self said. “But we’ve had a very inconsistent time of ball and body movement on offense, so we’ve got to get better in the next 48 hours to get ready to go play.”
The Jayhawks defeated Princeton 76-57 on Saturday.
KU is 9-5 all-time in the Champions Classic, best record of the participants that include Duke (8-6 overall), Kentucky (6-8) and Michigan State (5-9). KU is 3-1 vs. Duke in the event and 2-2 in Champions Classic games played in the Garden. The Jayhawks have won five consecutive games and eight of their last nine in the Classic
“It’ll be a big-boy game,” Self said.
The Jayhawks, ranked No. 24 this week in the AP poll (Duke is No. 5), are off to a 3-1 start, winning two of the games without freshman Darryn Peterson (Princeton, Texas A&M Corpus Christi), who has been sidelined by tightness in the hamstring.
“It’s going to be a big game,” said KU senior guard Tre White. “We’re not trying to make it too high or too low. It’s another even keel game for us, but they like to play fast. They’ve got some key players. We’re definitely ready for war with that one.”
White, who scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds versus Princeton, added: “You’ve got some big matchups there, but we’re not trying to make it bigger than what it’s supposed to be.”
Boozer, meanwhile, is coming off a 35-point scoring outing in Friday’s 100-62 victory over Indiana State in Durham, North Carolina.
His outburst tied the second-most points in a game for a Duke freshman behind only Flagg’s 42 last season against Notre Dame.
Zion Williamson (2018-19) and Jared McCain (2023-24) also scored 35 in a game as Duke freshmen. Marvin Bagley (2017-18) and JJ Redick (2022-23) each had 34 points in a game their freshman seasons in Durham.
“Just his approach. He’s a big-time winner,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer told ESPN of Boozer, adding, “He’s such a competitor. He has such a good way about him. I just think it speaks to his character.”
Boozer, the son of former Blue Devils standout Carlos Boozer and twin brother of Duke freshman Cayden Boozer, impressed veteran Tennessee coach Rick Barnes during the exhibition season. Boozer had 24 points and 23 rebounds in Duke’s 83-76 exhibition win over the Volunteers.
“One of the best players in the country,” Barnes said of Boozer, who also had 33 points and 12 boards in an exhibition win over UCF. “He’s as good as I’ve seen in a long time up close and personal.”
Duke thus far has defeated Indiana State as well as Army (114-59), Western Carolina (95-54) and Texas (75-60). KU has beaten Princeton (76-57), Texas A&M Corpus-Christi (77-46) and Green Bay (94-51). North Carolina defeated KU (87-74) on Nov. 7 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
KU after the Duke game will be idle until its opening game in the Players Era tournament.
