Stanford Cardinal forward AJ Rohosy (4) gets the rebound against the Duke Blue Devils guard Cayden Boozer (2) in the second half at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto on Sat Jan 17, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Michael Robeson

STANFORD, Calif. — The battle of the ACC freshmen was one-sided, as Ebuka Okorie’s Stanford Cardinal (14-5, 3-3 ACC) lost to Cameron Boozer’s sixth ranked Duke Blue Devils (17-1, 6-0 ACC) 80-50, inside a packed Maples Pavilion.

Duke opened the game on a Cameron Boozer 6-0 run, and he did not stop there.  The freshman phenom and his twin brother Cayden combined for 37 points and 15 rebounds.  Although Cameron garnered the bulk of those numbers.  The twins are the offspring of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, and have created a stir in Durham, similar to last year with Cooper Flagg.

The Cardinal was present too, but had a tough time shooting and scoring in the first half.  They shot 29% from the field and @3% from Three.  The Blue Devils defense held them to 19 points in the first 20 minutes of game action.  As a matter of fact, Stanford did not score until 4:03 had elapsed off the clock.

To further that point, their high scoring and high flying freshman sensation was not off to an early and explosive start as he did in the previous game and others prior to that one.  By the time the game reached the midway point, Stanford had no player with at least 10 points, while the aforementioned Boozer had 20 points and 9 rebounds.

At recess, the visitors from North Carolina led by 16 points, 35-19.  The Blue Devils shot nearly 52% from the field, while beyond the arc was putrid (17%).  Maples had a buzz with a solid fan base from both schools.  Both Duke and North Carolina fans and alumni traveled well to the Bay Area or are based locally.  A terrific ACC atmosphere was present at Maples, and possibly at Haas pavilion too, because of the two blue-blood schools from back East.

The second half had Stanford scoring first, but Duke had multiple runs and led by as many as 32 points during the final half.  Boozer had a steady second half, while a couple of teammates joined him in double-figure scoring.  On the Cardinal side, Jeremy Dent-Smith managed to eclipse that plateau, as he put up 18 points for the home team.

After 40 minutes of ACC action, the Duke Blue Devils emerged from the Stanford campus with a 30-point blowout victory, 80-50. and a sweep of the Bay (Cal) conference squads.

Dent-Smith led the Cardinal with his 18 points and huge efforts to keep his team in reach.  Cameron Boozer ended up with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while his teammates Isaiah Evans (15) and Patrick Ngongba (13) both did their part for the victory.

Stanford will next be in action Saturday, January 24 at Maples, hosting Cal, for part 1 of the Battle of the Bay (ACC Style) at % PM PT on the ACC Network.  Duke flies back to Durham to host Wake Forest on the same date, at 5:45 PM ET on The CW Network.