No. 7 Duke pulls away in the second half to win fifth straight road game 72-61 at BC
Posted February 12, 2022 6:00 p.m. EST
Updated February 13, 2022 9:03 a.m. EST
 7Duke Blue Devils |
72 |
 Boston College Eagles |
61 |
| Final | |
No. 7 Duke (21-4, 11-3 ACC) has one of the better home-court traditions in college basketball, so it's not surprising that it is usually better at home.
But Duke has been hotter on the road as of late and that continued at Boston College on Saturday as the Blue Devils pulled away for a 72-61 win.
It was Duke's fifth straight road win. After starting the season 0-1 on the road and 12-0 at home or at neutral sites, Duke is 3-2 at home since and 6-1 on the road.
It didn't start out well for Duke as it trailed 6-2 early and even when it got going, it couldn't quite shake off the Eagles. BC was within four points for almost all of the first half.
But Duke ended the half on an 11-4 run and continued that into the second half, stretching it into a 25-12 run that put Duke up 51-36 with 14:34 to go in the game.
BC would get it back within single digits, cutting it as close as 7 with 11:20 remaining. But Duke again stretched its lead back out, this time using an 18-4 run to go up by 21 with 4:38 to go.
Boston College had a late flurry of points after Duke went without a field goal for the final four minutes that made the game look more within reach than it was.
Duke shot 46.4% for the game and out-rebounded Boston College 41-31. The Eagles shot 40.3% and made just 1 of 12 from 3.
Paolo Banchero had 10 of his 16 team-high points in the first half and he added 14 rebounds. Wendell Moore Jr. added 14 points and was 4 of 5 from 3. Trevor Keels had 13 points to cap off an excellent week for the freshman, who had 25 in Duke's win at Clemson.
Mark Williams and A.J. Griffin each had 10 points for Duke.
BC's James Karnik led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting. DeMarr Langford had 16 while Makai Ashton-Langford added 10.
Next up for Duke will be a home game against Wake Forest. The Deacs had won three in a row and seven of eight before dropping a game to Miami at home on Saturday.
