Duke-Boston College: Blue Devils Soar Past Eagles

After their big win against No. 3 North Carolina, many people wondered how the Duke Blue Devils would react.

They reacted just fine.

The Devils coasted to a 90-80 win against unranked ACC opponent Boston College.

Duke went to 9-0 in the ACC with this win and 21-1 on the season.

Freshman F Kyle Singler had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead Duke, while Oakland-product Demarcus Nelson had 23 off the bench to boost his stock in the NBA Draft.

Tyrese Rice had 28 points off the bench to lead the Eagles.

The Blue Devils and Eagles were nearly even in the first half, with only one point separating them at the break.

From there, the two teams continued their own styles of play, keeping it close until Duke began to pull away.

A Rice floater cut the BC deficit to three, but from that point on, the Blue Devils ripped off a 17-2 run to secure the victory.

Toward the end of the contest, Gerald Henderson (who had nine points, three rebounds) was hogtied by Virginia F/C Shamari Spears.

Henderson attempted to come off a screen but was wrestled to the ground by Spears who outweighed him by a good 35 pounds.

The crowd immediately erupted and demanded an ejection be made.

However, despite the request, no ejection was granted. Officials ruled the foul was not intentional and it was just a regular two-shot penalty.

Flashbacks from last year's debacle in Chapel Hill had to come to mind, when Henderson deliberately gave UNC F Tyler Hansbrough a shot in the nose, giving Hansbrough a broken nose, and causing Henderson's ejection and suspension for the first game of the ACC tournament.

Although they lost, the Eagles managed to out-shoot the Blue Devils from the field, 55.2 percent to 44.3 percent, and out-rebounded them 35-33.

The most important stat of the night: Both teams had zero assists.

The Blue Devils stay at home Wednesday, welcoming the surging Maryland Terrapins.