Foster Explodes for Career High; No. 6 Duke Rallies at No. 20 Louisville, 84-73

Tuesday, January 6

Louisville, KY

7 p.m.

Duke University

14-1,3-0ACC

Louisville

11-4,1-2ACC

Duke

Louisville

Foster Explodes for Career High; No. 6 Duke Rallies at No. 20 Louisville, 84-73

1/6/2026 9:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, No. 6 Duke used dominant defense to orchestrate a second-half rally, defeating No. 20 Louisville, 84-73, at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday night. The Blue Devils (14-1, 3-0 ACC) outscored the Cardinals (11-4, 1-2 ACC) by 20 points, 46-26, following halftime to secure the top-25 road victory.

The Blue Devils earned their second consecutive road conference victory behind three 20-point performances, courtesy of Cameron Boozer (27), Isaiah Evans (23) and Caleb Foster (20). Foster set a new career high, with 16 of his 20 points coming in the second half. Boozer also brought in a game-high eight rebounds and a team-best four assists. Alongside his 23 points, Evans matched his career high on the glass with six boards, while setting a new career benchmark for steals with four and minutes played with 36.

Duke finished the contest with a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint and scored 16 points off of 14 forced turnovers. The 26 points allowed by Duke's defense was the lowest point total in any half by Louisville so far this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Louisville started the contest with possession and quickly opened the scoring with a three-pointer. Cameron Boozer made the first field goal of the night for the Blue Devils, but the Cardinals started with three triples to earn an early 9-3 lead.
Duke drew within three, 9-6, with free throws by Cayden Boozer and Isaiah Evans, followed by Evans knotting the score with his first attempt from deep.
The hosts used a 12-2 scoring run to establish a 24-14 lead at the under-12 timeout. Cameron Boozer made his first attempt from deep and ripped off eight fast points to pull Duke back within five, 29-24, shortly before the under-eight break.
Louisville responded by building back its double-digit lead and eventually led by nine, 47-38, at halftime.
Caleb Foster scored four early points out of halftime and brought the Blue Devils within six, 49-43, less than two minutes into the frame. Duke's defense forced three turnovers in the first four minutes of the second half and trailed by just two possessions at the under-16 timeout.
Boozer's fast-break three-point play cut the margin to just one, 53-52, at the 14:14 mark. Two free throws by Boozer gave the freshman 21 points and established Duke's first lead of the night, 54-53.
The Blue Devils' defensive effort held Louisville without a made field goal for over five minutes and Duke's offense used an extended 13-2 run to take a three-point lead, 56-53, with 12:18 remaining. Evans joined Boozer in the 20-point club, capping a three-point play out of a media timeout.
The lead continued to grow as the half continued, with Duke's defense holding Louisville to just 15 points through the first 12 minutes of the second stanza. Cameron Boozer drilled a three-pointer out of the under-eight break to put the Blue Devils in front by nine, 71-62.
Six consecutive makes from the field helped Duke maintain its lead, 75-66, as the clock ticked under five minutes to play.
Evans set a new career high with his fourth steal, setting up Foster's career-high 19th point to put Duke ahead by its largest lead of the night so far, 79-66. The junior guard reached 20 points from the free-throw line, giving Duke three players with at least 20 points.
The Blue Devils allowed just three Louisville field goal across the final 6:45, while Maliq Brown and Dame Sarr helped cap off the 84-73 Duke victory with late-game punctuation marks.

NOTES

Duke and Louisville played the 27th game in the all-time series.
- The Blue Devils are 18-9 against the Cardinals.
- Duke has won 11 of the last 14 meetings with Louisville, including eight straight.
The Blue Devils extended their winning streak at the KFC Yum! Center, picking up their fourth consecutive victory at Louisville.
Duke out-rebounded Louisville, 39-37.
- The Blue Devils have outrebounded their opponent in 12 games this season.
- The Cardinals began the game averaging 42.4 rebounds per outing, good for 14th in the country, but was held to 37 by Duke.
Duke leveraged a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint.
Louisville entered Tuesday's game leading the ACC and ranked fourth nationally with 12.2 3-pointers made per game, on 34.6 attempts per contest. In home games, the Cardinals averaged 14.4 triples per game, while shooting 39.7 percent from deep.
- After the Cardinals made 10 triples in the first half, Duke limited the hosts to just two in the second frame and to a total of 12-of-38 (.316) from beyond the arc.
The Cardinals averaged 19.1 assists per game, ranked 17th nationally, entering Tuesday's game.
- Duke's defense stifled Louisville's distribution, holding the home team to just 13 assists, the lowest total at home for Louisville this season.
Duke's defense held Louisville to just 26 points in the second half, the lowest scoring output in any half so far this season for the Cardinals.
- Louisville shot 10-of-31 (.323) from the field in the second half, the fewest made field goals in a second half for the Cardinals.
The Blue Devils swiped 11 steals, the most allowed in a game by a Louisville team under head coach Pat Kelsey, per Evan Miya.
Louisville shot 26-of-65 (.400) overall from the field, becoming Duke's 10th opponent this season to shoot 40-percent or worse in a game.
Duke's 12-point deficits in the first half (26-14, 39-27), were the largest deficits Duke faced this season.
Tuesday's victory is the Blue Devils' fifth triumph over a ranked opponent this season.
- Duke has now collected top-25 wins over No. 7 Michigan State, No. 15 Florida, No. 20 Louisville, No. 22 Arkansas and No. 25 Kansas.
Duke has now connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,279 straight games, the longest streak nationally.
Cameron Boozer posted 27 points on 10-of-12 (.833) shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 (.750) from beyond the arc.
- The freshman has scored at least 20 points in nine games this season and in four of his last five outings.
- Boozer grabbed eight rebounds and co-led all players with four assists.
Isaiah Evans scored in double-figures for the third consecutive game, finishing with 23 points.
- Evans has scored at least 17 points in each of Duke's three conference contests so far this season, and is averaging 22.7 points per game against ACC foes.
- The sophomore posted back-to-back outings with at least 20 points for the first time in his career.
- Evans made four three-pointers against the Cardinals. When Evans makes at least three triples, Duke is 8-0 this season and 19-0 during his career.
- Evans secured a career-best four steals and matched his career high with six rebounds.
Caleb Foster scored 16 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, and has scored double-figures in each of Duke's three conference contests.
- The junior guard shot 9-of-13 (.692) from the field, while adding four rebounds and two assists.
Boozer, Evans and Foster became the first Duke trio to all score at least 20 points in a game since Jared McCain (23), Kyle Filipowski (22) and Jeremy Roach (20) on Feb. 3, 2024.
Maliq Brown made his presence felt on defense, grabbing six defensive boards, swiping three steals and blocking a shot.
- Brown finished the contest with eight total caroms, one shy of his season high.
All nine Duke players that logged minutes scored.

QUOTES

"Big time college basketball game. Ton of respect for Pat [Kelsey], their staff, their team. For us, they're as explosive as any offense we played this season, no question about it. And the game really came down to, I think, our defense in the second half was terrific. I didn't have them prepared the way I would have liked in that first half. You've got to tip your cap to [Aly] Khalifa, hitting those four threes, I thought actually at halftime, we felt pretty good despite the score. You know, he hits those threes. I thought we were a little sped up on offense. Cam Boozer, what he's doing, is unbelievable. His control over the game. I thought it was his best defensive game. Offensively, his efficiency, his ability to make others better. In that first half, he settled us. If he didn't do that, it could have gotten out of hand. And then the second half, I could talk about a bunch of different guys. Caleb Foster, what he did, controlling the game, getting downhill, making the right play. Dame Sarr's defense – [Ryan] Conwell is a terrific player, and Dame, I think, was an example of impacting the game with not really scoring. And then, Isaiah [Evans], doing what Isaiah does. And I thought Maliq Brown really came through for us in that second half with his defense activity and deflection. Again, credit to Louisville for putting us on our heels in the first half. Really proud of this win." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"I just try to stay poised. Obviously it was a rough first half, so just trying to stay poised, get going a little bit. And then, the whole team started getting going a little bit after that. It was a full-team effort for sure. A lot of guys stepped up, especially in the second half, and it was a great win for us as a team." - Duke freshman forward Cameron Boozer

UP NEXT

No. 6 Duke (14-1, 3-0 ACC) returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 10, hosting No. 24 SMU (12-2, 1-0 ACC). The Blue Devils and Mustangs tip off at 2 p.m., and fans can watch live on ESPN.

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