After scoring just two points in the first half, Cameron Boozer exploded in the second as No. 1 Duke pulled away from No. 9 TCU in an 81-58 win to advance to the Sweet 16.

Boozer had 17 points and missed just two shots in the second half as Duke turned a close game into a rout. After TCU tied the game at 44-44 with 13:56 to go, Duke promptly outscored the Horned Frogs 30-8 over the next 11 minutes.

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That run included a seven-point swing when things were starting to get out of reach for TCU. With Duke leading 59-50, officials missed a clear goaltending on Maliq Brown. TCU coach Jamie Dixon was understandably unhappy with the call, and got a technical foul for expressing his displeasure. That led to two free throws from Cayden Boozer and a 3-pointer by Dame Sarr that extended the Duke lead to 14.

And then Cameron Boozer added a dunk to make it a 16-point lead.

The Horned Frogs shot just over 20% in the second half as they faded much like Siena did in the first round against the Blue Devils on Thursday. TCU was just 23-of-69 from the field overall and were dominated on the boards. Duke had 42 rebounds to TCU’s 25.

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Cameron Boozer took just one first-half shot.

The likely Wooden Award winner and potential top pick in the NBA Draft was an absolute non-factor in the first 20 minutes.

Boozer missed his only field goal attempt of the first half and his only points came at the free throw line. In fact, Boozer ended up with as many shot attempts as he had flagrant fouls. With less than four minutes to go in the first half, Boozer was called for a flagrant foul for an elbow to the face of TCU’s David Punch.

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Duke’s game plan in the second half was obvious as soon as the period began. Get Boozer the ball and make him the focal point of the offense.

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It worked. As Boozer scored, TCU diverted more and more attention to him. That left open shots for the likes of Sarr and Isaiah Evans.

“We can’t let the whole half go by without him getting a shot,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer told CBS after the game. “But again, he impacts the game in all ways. With his defense, his rebounding, and obviously with the way he asserted himself in the second half.”

It was a half that reminded college basketball fans why Duke was the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament. And it helped that the Blue Devils got a key piece of their starting lineup back on Saturday too.

Patrick Ngongba II returns

Despite heading to the Duke locker room from the team bus with a boot on his right foot and a scooter for assistance, Patrick Ngongba made his first postseason appearance for the Blue Devils. The forward had been out since the final game of the regular season with a right foot injury and it was immediately apparent how important he is to the Blue Devils.

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Ngongba was on a clear minutes restriction; he came off the bench and he played just 13 minutes. He was a bit rusty too, committing four fouls in his time on the court. But Duke outscored TCU by 20 in those 13 minutes as he had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Blue Devils’ depth has been tested since the end of the regular season after Ngongba didn’t play in the regular-season finale against North Carolina and starting guard Caleb Foster suffered a fractured right foot in that game. Foster is out indefinitely and seems unlikely to play in the NCAA tournament.

Without both Foster and Ngongba on Thursday, Duke went just seven-deep. Just eight players appeared in more than one minute on Saturday, but Ngongba’s availability is massive, especially if he can play 20 minutes or so in the Sweet 16.