Duke topples TCU, advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after second-half surge
Step by step. That’s what the NCAA Tournament becomes.
Teams do whatever is necessary to win, to take the next step, to move on. That’s all that matters. It’s often about grit, defense and digging down. Style points don’t matter.
There was nothing very stylish about Duke’s game Saturday with Texas Christian in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Region at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. It was a test of wills for a long stretch, and Duke emerged with an 81-58 victory, its 13th straight win.
Much like its first-round game against Siena, Duke needed a decisive second half to finally deflate and put away a determined underdog. Cameron Boozer had a big half, the defense was more stifling, the Devils looking the part of the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA field.
The Blue Devils (34-3) move on to Washington, D.C., and Capital One Arena, for a Sweet 16 game. Duke’s opponent: the winner of Sunday’s St. John’s-Kansas second-round game.
“It’s a great feeling,” Cam Boozer said of advancing. “We came in with 68 teams, now there’s just 16 left. This is what we worked for so hard all year long and we want to keep it going and keep playing Duke basketball.”
Boozer shook off a two-point first half to finish with Boozer-like numbers: 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Duke’s Isaiah Evans carried a lot of the offense in the first half, once converting a 4-point play, to put up 17 points, Dame Sarr had 14, and Cayden Boozer had a solid 36-minure game with 9 points and 5 assists.
The Devils also got a boost, emotionally and on the court, to have center Pat Ngongba II back and playing after missing five games with a foot injury. Ngongba was in for 13 minutes and had four points and four rebounds.
“He gave us a lot of juice coming back,” Cam Boozer said.
Duke’s second-half wake-up call
Duke took a 38-34 lead into halftime, but the start of the second half could not have been any worse for the Blue Devils — or better for the Horned Frogs. There were bad turnovers -- Duke had 17 in the game -- and worse decisions and TCU took advantage, quickly reeling off six points to take the lead and force a Duke timeout.
If it was a gut check for Duke, Cam Boozer shook loose for a slam dunk, his first basket of the game.
“We needed that refocus,” Cam Boozer said. “We came out a little soft, we gave them confidence, and we just said now’s the time, let’s get a run going.”
Moments after the dunk, TCU’s Tanner Toolson came slamming down on Boozer’s back after a Boozer fake under the basket, triggering a referees’ review.
A flagrant-1 foul was assessed on Toolson, Boozer making the two free throws. The big man was just getting started. So was Duke., which limited TCU to 24 second-half points and 26% shooting.
“It was the defense, man,” Cam Boozer said. “That’s what we’ve hung our hat on all year long. That’s what we talked about at halftime, putting the focus on defense and getting stops. We controlled the glass and protected the rim.”
A Nikolas Khamenia 3-pointer pushed the Devils’ lead to 53-44 and had TCU coach Jamie Dixon, constantly on the move on the sideline, calling a timeout with 11:48 left.
“It’s kind of like a chess match, trying to figure out a team and what works and doesn’t work,” Evans said. “We just figured them out.”
Infuriated by a few calls, Dixon was then hit with a technical with 8:57 remaining. Cayden Boozer’s free throws and later a 3 by Sarr pushed the Duke lead to 64-50 and had Dixon needing another timeout as TCU’s foul problems mounted.
“We had quite a challenge today and kept stepping up for each one, each one, and each one,” Dixon said. “Then eventually there was just too many of them.”
But Duke was on its way. Boozer had another slam and Sarr a 3 and the lead grew to 18 points after a 24-6 run..
“We always talk about inflection points, and we just kept it going, taking it from 10 to 14 to 18,” Cam Boozer said. “We did a great job of that.”
TCU touts aggressive play
The Horned Frogs, to a man, had been touting how aggressive and physical they were on defense, and they were once the ball went up, as if daring the referees to blow the whistle.
“They might be the most aggressive team on the ball we’ve played all year,” Cam Boozer said.
TCU, which had 12 first-half fouls, was dead-set on stopping Cam Boozer inside and swarmed about him, doubling, tripling. Boozer kept his cool and didn’t force it — he had one shot in the opening half, scoring his two points on free throws.
Boozer also figured into a momentum-turning play for TCU in the first half.
Duke, riding Evans’ hot hand, was leading 33-25 and slowing the Frogs with a 3-2 zone that often had Brown, Sarr and Evans at the top. Harding and Pierre both are 6-footers and the zone negated both their quickness and hindered their vision in the halfcourt offensive sets.
The Devils also used a 1-2-2 full court press at times, trying to be disruptive and alter TCU’s tempo.
But with 3:59 left in the half, TCU’s David Punch turned away from the lane with a bloody nose. Play was stopped. After a review, Cam Boozer was called for a flagrant-1 foul for an elbow, a call that had Scheyer shaking his head.
Moments later, after a TCU free throw, Boozer was called for a second foul after a Micah Robinson fake underneath. Make it two fouls in 17 seconds and Boozer was headed to the bench.
TCU’s Xavier Edmonds picked up his third foul with 50 seconds left in the first half as he defended Brown under the basket. Edmonds later fouled out on double technicals assessed to him and Duke’s Patrick Ngongba II.
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 7:52 PM with the headline "Duke topples TCU, advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after second-half surge."
