{"id":616836,"date":"2026-02-22T01:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/616836\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T01:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T01:54:17","slug":"no-3-duke-has-the-inside-track-to-the-no-1-seed-after-a-68-63-win-over-no-1-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/616836\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 3 Duke has the inside track to the No. 1 seed after a 68-63 win over No. 1 Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Will Duke be the new No. 1 team in the AP Top 25?<\/p>\n<p>Freshman Cameron Boozer shined once again as the No. 3 Blue Devils beat No. 1 Michigan 68-63 behind his 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan had a chance to get the game tied with a 3-pointer after Patrick Ngongba missed a shot in the lane inside 30 seconds to go. But Duke got the rebound and passed the ball around the perimeter before Michigan finally fouled with 14.6 seconds to go.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>But Michigan fouled Isaiah Evans, an 88% free throw shooter. He made it a two-possession game and effectively ended any chance Michigan had of getting the win.<\/p>\n<p>The victory is Duke\u2019s 11th over a team ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 in school history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love games like this. Our team loves it, you can see them celebrating back there,\u201d Boozer told ESPN after the game.<\/p>\n<p>He had to sit out part of the second half after picking up his fourth foul, but he was the best player on the court even as Michigan\u2019s Yaxel Lendeborg got off to a hot start with 16 points in the first half.<\/p>\n<p>Boozer, the massive favorite for the Wooden Award, took over in the second half as Duke was unfazed by Michigan\u2019s frontcourt size.<\/p>\n<p>Live27 updatesSat, February 21, 2026 at 3:33 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:52 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>With No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Houston going down today, it\u2019s likely No. 3 Duke will leap ahead to the top spot in the AP Top 25.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/college-basketball\/rankings\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"264\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/screenshot_2026-02-21_at_5.51.39\u202fpm.png\"\/><\/a>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:46 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Duke hangs on to take down No. 1 Michigan in a massive win.<\/p>\n<p>Cam Boozer led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:44 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Michigan needed to get a stop to have a chance to tie, but Duke corralled a key offensive rebound and now the Wolverines are forced to foul and play the free throw game.<\/p>\n<p>Duke up 68-63 with 15 seconds to play.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:36 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Michigan went on a 7-0 run to close the Duke lead to 57-56 with under 4 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Can the Wolverines rally all the way back?<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:23 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Plenty of sports stars from the DC area showed up for Michigan vs. Duke.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:18 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines are just 4 of 17 from the field in the second half and they haven\u2019t made a bucket in nearly 4 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Duke leads 53-48 with 7:47 to play<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Nick Bromberg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"dot-authorimg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771725257_909_dims.jpeg\"\/>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:12 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines have been out of sorts lately \u2014 and it\u2019s why Duke has its biggest lead of the game.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 5:02 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Boozer now has 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:56 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>The scoring has slowed down a bit in the early minutes of the second half, but Cam Boozer is still making plays for Duke.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Devils lead 41-38.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:46 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>The final half has begun. Who will prevail in this one?<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:45 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Duke fans made the trip and filled out Capital One Arena for this one.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:33 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Boozer is doing it all for Duke, with a team-high 9 points to go with 3 rebounds and 4 assists.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan\u2019s Yaxel Lendeborg leads all scorers with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/ncaab\/michigan-wolverines-duke-blue-devils-202602210173\/\" data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click for Full box score;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" target=\"_blank\">Click for Full box score<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:28 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>A silly foul by Michigan in the final second put Duke\u2019s Patrick Ngongba II on the line, and he hit both free throws to give the Blue Devils the slight lead at the break.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:23 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Johnson hung in the air before throwing this one down for Michigan.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Nick Bromberg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"dot-authorimg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771725257_909_dims.jpeg\"\/>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:19 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n<p>Not only is Mara on the bench with three fouls, so is Elliot Cadeau. He sustained a left forearm\/elbow injury and his arm is currently wrapped as he has gotten treatment from trainers.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:09 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Mara, Michigan\u2019s starting center, committed his third foul at the 7:08 mark of the first half. He\u2019ll likely have to sit most of, if not all, the rest of the half.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re tied at 26-26.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Nick Bromberg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"dot-authorimg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771725257_909_dims.jpeg\"\/>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 4:03 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s been incredible so far \u2014 and has been keeping Michigan in this game.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 3:57 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>Despite a hot start from Michigan, the Blue Devils have responded well and head into the under-12 timeout with a 22-21 lead. Caleb Foster leads the way with 8 points.<\/p>\n<p>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 3:50 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Yahoo Sports Staff<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines have hit 8 of 10 shots so far, including Yaxel Lendeborg\u2019s 5 for 5 showing with 12 points.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Nick Bromberg\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"dot-authorimg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771725257_909_dims.jpeg\"\/>Sat, February 21, 2026 at 3:44 PM PST<\/p>\n<p>Nick Bromberg<\/p>\n<p>This game already feels like a game in late March. We could be in for a fun Final Four preview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Duke be the new No. 1 team in the AP Top 25? Freshman Cameron Boozer shined once&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,816,17047,666,1739,81551],"class_list":{"0":"post-616836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-blue-devils","10":"tag-cameron-boozer","11":"tag-duke","12":"tag-michigan","13":"tag-will-duke"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116111794775680719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}