6. Duke (11-1)
Through November and the first half of December, a few different teams have certainly established themselves as the cream of the crop in this sport. Duke has absolutely been one of those teams, proving it time and time again with wins over Kansas, Arkansas, Florida, and Michigan State. Their unbeaten start featured a lot of Cameron Boozer asserting himself as not just one of the best freshmen but one of the nation’s best players.
The final score doesn’t indicate it, but Duke struggled early against Lipscomb before turning it on late in a 97-73 win. Boozer starred as usual with 26 points and 13 rebounds while Isaiah Evans added 16 points with some nice shooting. The real struggle came Saturday in New York City as despite a double-digit halftime lead the Blue Devils fell 82-81 against Texas Tech. Even in their first loss of the season Boozer showed out on the national stage with 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Many more dominoes will fall in this college basketball season and it wasn’t exactly the expectation for a perfect season from Duke, but it’s still disappointing. A slow start and a rough finish punctuated a week that was far from perfect, though the Blue Devils will have plenty of time to lick their wounds and get back into fighting shape for the ACC. We actually won’t see Boozer and company again until New Year’s Eve when they begin league play against Georgia Tech.