Duke Blue Devils vs Boston College Eagles Basketball Recap

Duke 84, Boston College 68

Five years ago, this matchup would have created a stir in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now, it only leaves behind a shaken team that will experience a quiet and subdued plane flight back to New England.

Duke cruised to an easy victory over Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, on Thursday night. Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils – ranked third in the nation – maintained their hold on first place in the ACC with a 6-1 record in the conference, tied in the loss column with 5-1 Florida State and 4-1 North Carolina.

Duke did lose at Florida State earlier in the year, but the defending national champions are likely to be well-nigh untouchable on their home floor at Cameron, enabling them to eventually claim the outright ACC title. Any claims to the contrary were hard to take seriously on Thursday, as the Dukies took care of business in a lopsided affair. Coach Steve Donahue’s Eagles fell to 4-3 in the ACC, and they fell hard as well. In 2006, Boston College reached the Sweet 16 and took Duke to the limit in a thrilling ACC Tournament championship game. Five years later, the Eagles’ wings were clipped on a night when they were thoroughly outclassed.

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This contest actually was close in the first half, believe it or not, before Duke went on a 13-5 streak to finish the half, grabbing a 41-32 advantage on a Ryan Kelly 3-pointer. Kelly landed all five of his field goal attempts in the first half to bring his streak to 18 over three and a half games, just two conversions shy of the ACC record held by Duke’s Alaa Abedelnaby. Kelly’s streak ended with his first miss in the second half.

Duke dominated play after halftime, leading by 22 with 10 minutes remaining in the game and finishing with a breeze-to-the-finish-line victory that didn’t produce a lot of stress or anxiety.

Duke’s balanced attack had four starters in double figures, led by Nolan Smith with 28, Seth Curry with 20 (a Duke career high), and Kyle Singler and Kelly with 14 each. Mason Plumlee had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Krzyzewski continued a pattern of keeping Singler and Smith in the game for the full 40 minutes.

Corey Raji led the Eagles with 18 points, followed by Joe Trapani with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Biko Paris with 11 points, and Dallas Elmore with 10. Donahue did not start Reggie Jackson in either half. Jackson, second in the ACC in points per game and assists, finished with seven points and six assists in 32 minutes. Donahue explained in his post-game conference that Jackson had not been practicing as hard as some of his teammates.

That’s not a good idea when you go to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the team that’s poised to lift yet another ACC trophy.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer