Cayden Boozer had an honest take after loss.
Ten seconds separated Duke, the top-seeded team in the men’s NCAA Tournament, from the Final Four.
Freshman guard Cayden Boozer received an outlet pass close to halfcourt to give the Blue Devils a 72-70 lead over the No. 2 UConn Huskies. Huskies rushed him right away, and he attempted to toss it over them to an open Patrick Ngongba II. With 0.3 seconds remaining, Braylon Mullins swished a logo three to win 73-72 after UConn deflected and retrieved the pass.
Suddenly, Duke became the first No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose after leading by at least 15 points at the half. Prior to Duke’s defeat, the top seeds were 134-0 in that situation.
Boozer behaved himself politely at his locker following the game. He guided Brian Murphy of WRAL through the catastrophic last play.
Boozer stated:
“I went to be an outlet, obviously,”. “I saw two people down there, Isaiah [Evans] and Pat [Ngongba], just trying to get them the ball because Isaiah is our best free-throw shooter.”
When asked about his freshman year with his twin brother, Cameron Boozer, Boozer responded that it had been “a special year.” He realized that this was the only year he and his brother would be free to decide whether or not to play together, and he was “never going to pass that up.”
Then he gave a heartbreaking revelation while shaking his head:
“I just feel like I let him down.”
In a different video posted by Matt Giles, a dejected Cayden Boozer expressed his belief that he “cost our team our season.”
Unfortunately, no one will remember it anymore, but when Caleb Foster recovered from foot surgery, Cayden Boozer filled in for Duke. He ended with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting (1-of-1 from three), six assists, five rebounds, and two steals against UConn. Boozer would have been 6-of-6 at the stripe that day if UConn had fouled him at halfcourt.
