Cameron Boozer scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds before fouling out and No. 4 Duke relied on late-game defense to pull out a 66-60 victory against No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday afternoon at East Lansing, Mich.
The Blue Devils’ only field goals in the final six minutes were a pair of 3-pointers, so they leaned into free-throw shooting to carry them to their fourth win against a nationally ranked team.
Caleb Foster added 12 points and Nikolas Khamenia had 10 points and nine rebounds for Duke (10-0), which shot 38.2% from the field with more than half of its attempts from 3-point range (9-for-29).
Carson Cooper’s 16 points and 16 rebounds led Michigan State (8-1). Jaxon Kohler made four 3-pointers and provided 14 points, while Coen Carr had 10 points. It was the first setback in six home games for the Spartans.
Isaiah Evans drained a 3-pointer to give Duke a 55-53 lead with just under four minutes to play.
Michigan State went almost four minutes without scoring before Jeremy Fears Jr. connected on two free throws to knot the score at 55-55 with 1:59 to play. Boozer canned two foul shots on Duke’s ensuing possession.
Evans then connected on three free throws at the 58-second mark. Carson Cooper’s basket pulled the Spartans within 60-57 with 46 seconds remaining. Following a Duke timeout, Foster drilled a 3-pointer for a 63-57 lead with 15 seconds left.
But Boozer fouled out at the 11-second mark with Cooper converting a three-point play, which would be the Spartans’ final points of the game. Foster drained two free throws to help the Blue Devils seal the outcome. Patrick Ngongba II added a final foul shot for the Blue Devils.
Duke dabbled in zone defense with Boozer in foul trouble. Fears ended up shooting 0 of 10 from the field.
Boozer was 1-for-4 from the field in the first half and then connected on his first six attempts of the second half, finishing 7 of 13 from the floor. Duke was up 48-47 after the last of those consecutive made shots from the freshman forward.
Evans, who made the winning 3-pointer for Duke on Tuesday against No. 15 Florida, was 2 of 6 on 3-point attempts for his only field goals.
