Boozer MVP of ACC tourney for No. 1 Duke amid rough night against No. 10 Virginia’s Onyenso

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Time and time again, Cameron Boozer attacked the paint with an Atlantic Coast Conference championship on the line. And Duke’s star freshman repeatedly found himself meeting an unusual outcome.

Seeing his shots batted out of the air by Virginia’s Ugonna Onyenso.

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“Well,” Boozer admitted, “I definitely got frustrated.”

That battle between the 6-foot-10, 250-pound Boozer and the 7-foot, 245-pound Onyenso stood out amid top-ranked Duke’s 74-70 victory over the 10th-ranked Cavaliers on Saturday night in the ACC Tournament title game. Onyenso was the key to harassing the high-end NBA prospect into the roughest shooting performance of his season.

Boozer entered Saturday ranked eighth nationally in scoring (22.8) while shooting 57.9%. He finished with a season-low 13 points on a season-worst 3-for-17 shooting, with Onyenso swatting four of his shots — three in the second half.

Boozer still finished with eight rebounds and eight assists to secure tournament MVP honors, but it was a struggle all night in anchoring the interior attack that has helped Duke overwhelm opponents since January.

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The battle inside

Onyenso finished with nine blocks, seven in the second half, to break former Wake Forest big man and longtime NBA star Tim Duncan’s single-tournament record for blocks.

“First of all I’ve got give props to him,” Boozer said. “He’s a great defender, great shot blocker. I think there’s a lot I can learn from this game, but I just want to keep attacking, keep attacking, figure it out, find other ways to win. Obviously, my shot wasn’t falling. I wasn’t getting in a rhythm. But just had to find a way.”

Boozer’s 17.6% shooting was his lowest total of the season, undercutting the 25% mark (3 for 12) against Texas in this same arena to open the season. It also marked only the third time all year Boozer had finished with just three field goals.

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Two of those have come against the Cavaliers, who have held Boozer…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/boozer-mvp-acc-tourney-no-053256391.html

Author : AARON BEARD

Publish date : 2026-03-15 05:32:00

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