Duke's second half sparks win against Texas in opener

DUKE ATHLETICS

North Mecklenburg High graduate Isaiah Evans paced Duke with 23 points in the Blue Devils' 75-60 win against Texas Nov. 4, 2025, in the Dickie V Invitational at Spectrum Center.

A strong second half propelled No. 6 Duke over Texas, 75-60 in the first Dickie V Invitational. 

The Blue Devils found themselves trailing by a point at halftime, something they had done in two preseason scrimmages against Central Florida and No. 16 Tennessee. And like in the scrimmages, Duke made the proper adjustments to run out to large victory margins. 

Duke outscored Texas 43-27 in the second half. 

“That’s one way to start the season,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “And I couldn’t be more proud of our team. I thought we showed great fight. Obviously, there’s a lot we can do better and clean up. A ton of respect for [Texas coach] Sean Miller. For Texas, they’re hard nose, everything you think of with a Sean Miller team. I thought they were hard-nosed and tough defensively. They made us really have to work and do some things we haven't seen yet. So, a lot of it is a credit to them. And then for our guys, I thought we stepped up. We made big time, winning plays.”

Duke sophomore guard Isaiah Evans led the Blue Devils with 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting and 4-for-8 from three-point range. After the North Mecklenburg High graduate hit his third three-pointer, he looked at the crowd and appeared to mouth the words, “this is my city.” Evans said he felt the love from the hometown folks.

“When I get out there, I just feel all the love, all the support,” Evans said, “and so, I just come to play, and I know there are a lot of people behind me, especially when I’m here, I just feel really comfortable.”

Blue Devils star forward and projected top three draft pick Cameron Boozer went scoreless in the first half. He took Scheyer’s halftime message to take a more aggressive approach to heart. Boozer scored 15 points in the second half, finishing the game with 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block. 

“Obviously, [it was] a tough first half,” Boozer said. “I think my teammates did a great job of picking me up. Scheyer challenged me at halftime. He said I played soft, which was true. So, in the second half, I changed my mentality, and my teammates did a great job finding me. I thought we were the tougher team in the second half as a unit and that obviously led to the win.”

Duke rolled out a different starting lineup compared to their exhibitions in Caleb Foster, Evans, Dame Sarr, Boozer and Patrick Ngongba II. In the Blue Devils scrimmages Nicolas Khamenia started in place of Sarr. 

Scheyer said he is still getting used to having his full roster accessible and things may still change as the season goes on.

“I think you'll continue to see some different lineups,” Scheyer said. “It’s just an evolution of where we’re going. That's the first thing, and the second thing is that our depth is, it's a big key to our team. So, even though we may start a certain way, that doesn't mean we're going to end a certain way. We’re going to continue to figure this out. I would say with Dame, his defense, you know, [he] is a big-time player, we want him to be disruptive. And just trying to figure out the lineups and rotations… I’d be lying to you if I said we have it all figured out. This is our first time with our team together.”

To Scheyer’s point, veteran forward/center Maliq Brown was back on the floor after getting hurt late last season. Having him back will add front court depth. It’s just game one, but Scheyer intends on embracing the challenges of a new season.

“This is a big-time evolution,” he said. “Where we’re going, it’s a long way away from where we are versus where we’re going, but we’re going there with some big-time competitors and some big-time players.”

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