No. 4 Duke's dominant first half enough to skip past Boston College

Cameron Boozer had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds to power No. 4 Duke to its 10th straight victory, a 67-49 home win over Boston College on Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.

Boozer shot 9-of-17 from the floor and also tallied two assists and a season-best five steals for Duke (21-1, 10-0 ACC). Isaiah Evans added 12 points for the Blue Devils, while Patrick Ngongba also flirted with a double-double, totaling nine points and nine boards.

Fred Payne paced Boston College (9-13, 2-7) with 14 points in the seventh loss for the Eagles in their last nine games.

Duke led wire-to-wire and jumped out on a 13-0 run to open the game, powered by seven points from Boozer. The Blue Devils later put together a 13-5 run and went on to lead by as many as 18 points in the first half.

Before intermission, Boozer drove right and threw down a one-handed slam with ease over Boston College defender Jayden Hastings, giving Duke a 42-27 lead at the break.

After shooting 60.7% from the floor in the first half, though, the Blue Devils struggled to keep that offensive firepower consistent in the second, shooting just 31.8% from the floor. The 25 points that Duke scored in the second half were the fewest it has scored in a half all season.

Boston College never threatened to take the lead, as Duke was able to keep a comfortable double-digit advantage in the second half despite its shooting woes. The Blue Devils also had just two turnovers in the first half, but seven in the second. The early hole the Eagles dug themselves just proved to be too deep to overcome.

Duke is off to its best start to a season since the 2007-08 campaign, back when head coach Jon Scheyer was a sophomore guard playing for Mike Krzyzewski.

Next up for the Blue Devils is the rekindling of one of the top rivalries in all of college sports, as it travels down Tobacco Road on Saturday to face No. 14 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.