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Emotional Cayden Boozer reacts after late-game turnover vs. UConn: 'I cost our team our season'

Byington mugby: Alex Byington03/30/26_AlexByington

With under 10 seconds left between No. 1 Duke and a second straight Final Four appearance, Cayden Boozer was just trying to keep the ball away from UConn‘s clutches after a wild second-half comeback effort by the Huskies. But as the star freshman attempted to loft the ball over two UConn guards, Silas Demary Jr. got a finger on the pass and Braylon Mullins recovered it at midcourt with six seconds left.

After one quick pass, Mullins got the ball back and drained a last-second, dagger 3-pointer straight to the heart of Blue Devils fans everywhere as the Huskies punched their third Final Four ticket in the past four years with a 73-72 upset of top-overall-seeded Duke in Sunday night’s East Region Elite Eight game.

Cayden Boozer, the other half of the Blue Devils’ five-star twin tandem, sank into his locker room inside Washington D.C.’s Capitol One Arena and shouldered the blame for the costly, late-game turnover that ended Duke’s otherwise stellar 2025-26 season at 35-3 overall.

“I turned the ball over. I should’ve been stronger with the ball,” Boozer said postgame, courtesy of The Field of 68. “I cost our team our season.”

Mullins’ last-second 3-pointer completed a wild, second-half comeback by the Huskies, which outscored the Blue Devils 18-7 over the game’s final 6:07 of regulation. That included an 8-2 closing scoring flurry over the last 1:31 of play, capped by Mullins’ heartbreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 left on the game clock.

“I mean, we just didn’t have our competitive edge,” Boozer said. “We were guarding them pretty well in the first half. We didn’t do the best job (of that in the second half), but at the end of the day, I’m sticking with our guys no matter what. We had a chance to win regardless of what happened in the second half. It’s just a tough game.”

It was Duke’s second buzzer-beating loss of the season joining an eerily-similar 71-68 loss to North Carolina on Feb. 7 in Chapel Hill. Much like Sunday night, when UConn battled back from a 19-point first-half deficit, the rival Tar Heels trailed by as many as 13 before UNC guard Derek Dixon drained a clutch 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining to deliver Duke’s lone ACC loss this season.

“It’s hard to put in perspective right now, but this has been the best time I’ve had playing basketball,” Boozer added. “The group of guys that we have, I’m really grateful for the moment. Obviously we didn’t get the job done. But, I’m super grateful for this team and everything we were able to accomplish this year.”

Despite the late-game gaffe, Boozer finished second on the team with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting with six assists and five rebounds Sunday night. Only his twin brother Cameron Boozer had a better statistical night with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and eight rebounds and four assists vs. UConn.

While most expect his brother Cameron to be a lottery pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft, Cayden’s draft projection is far less certain. Given that uncertainty, could either or both Boozers elect to return to Durham for a second year at Duke? Only time will tell.