Durham, N.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball fell at nationally-ranked Duke on Saturday afternoon as the Blue Devils earned the 95-54 victory over the Catamounts at Cameron Indoor Stadium, concluding a two-game, season-opening gauntlet for WCU.
 
Graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro led the Catamounts with 14 points, connecting on five field goals, including four from beyond the arc. Redshirt junior Marcus Kell poured in 11 points with seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Abdulai Fanta Kabba rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points, while pulling down seven boards.

Freshman Samuel Dada led the way on the glass with eight rebounds. A trio of Catamounts dished out a pair of assists, including Soumaoro, redshirt junior Cord Stansberry, and freshman Tahlan Pettway, while sophomore CJ Hyland tallied three steals.

Cameron Boozer led all players on Saturday with 25 points, connecting on eight field goals, including four 3-pointers and all five of his free throw attempts. He also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Cayden Boozer poured in 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. Patrick Ngongba and Maliq Brown had 10 points apiece, as Ngongba added seven rebounds.

The Catamounts made the opening statement with four early points in Saturday's action before Duke (2-0) responded. Over the next nine minutes, the Devils put together a decisive 25-2 run to stretch the lead to 19, 25-6 just past the midpoint of the opening 20 minutes. Using the power of Soumoaro's deep ball to push back with a 9-4 burst, Duke then responded with a 16-6 run over the final five minutes to take a 45-21 lead to the break.

Duke continued to put the pressure on out of the halftime locker room with a 15-6 run in the opening five minutes to increase the lead to 33, 60-27. Following a quick pushback from WCU with six of eight points, the hosts used a 15-4 burst to increase their advantage just past the midpoint of the second 20 minutes. The Catamounts cut into the deficit slightly down the stretch, but the Blue Devils kept the pressure up and closed on a 9-2 run to claim the 95-54 victory.

The Catamounts shot 30.6% (22-of-72) from the floor with four 3-pointers and converted 6-of-11 at the charity stripe. Duke posted a 46.9% (30-of-64) shooting performance as the Blue Devils made 10 threes and went 25-of-33 at the foul line.

Duke edged WCU on the glass by nine, 51-42, with a 15-13 advantage on the offensive glass for the guests. The Purple & Gold turned 10 Duke turnovers into seven points, while the hosts converted 14 turnovers into 21 points. Duke outscored WCU in the paint 40-28 and won the bench scoring 42-8 and a fast break advantage of 20-8.

Western Carolina (0-2) opens a season-long three-game homestand beginning on Thursday, Nov. 13, with NAIA counterpart Voorhees out of Denmark, S.C. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The matchup with the Tigers will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com and live audio through the Catamount Sports Network beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Season tickets for the home portion of the 2025-26 Catamount men's and women's basketball seasons are on sale now through the first-floor Ramsey Center Ticket Office, by phone at (828) 227-2401, and online at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets. Options include tickets for men's or women's and an "all-hoops" package for every home game in the Ramsey Center for both squads. Single-game tickets for both squads are also on sale.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts).