Duke basketball earns a 72-61 ACC win over Boston College after a strong second half
Another Paolo Banchero double-double and Wendell Moore’s strong second half kept No. 7 Duke atop the ACC standings on Saturday night.
Banchero scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Moore scored 11 of his 14 points after halftime as the Blue Devils pulled away to beat Boston College 72-61 at Conte Forum.
The double-double was the seventh in ACC play for Banchero, the 6-10 freshman named the ACC’s preseason player of the year.
“Paolo established himself early,” Moore said. “When we needed it the most, he came through. He was real strong in what he did. We ran basically iso for him. He made strong drives every time.”
Moore, a 6-5 junior forward, hit four of his five 3-pointers, including three in the second half.
Moore played two days after taking a ugly, hard fall to the court Thursday night at Clemson, when Tigers senior guard David Collins undercut him as Moore dunked. Collins was ejected for the flagrant foul and the ACC suspended him for one game.
Duke (21-4, 11-3 ACC) won its fifth consecutive road game in league play to remain tied with Notre Dame (18-7, 11-3 ACC) for first place in the league standings. Trevor Keels added 13 points for the Blue Devils while Mark Williams and A.J. Griffin scored 10 points each.
James Karnik led Boston College (9-14, 4-9 ACC) with 21 points while DeMarr Langford added 16. The Eagles shot 40% while making just 1 of 12 3-pointers.
Duke led 37-28 at halftime and pushed its lead into double-digits for the first time when Moore hit a pair of free throws with 18 minutes to play giving Duke a 42-31 lead. A pair of free throws by Williams put the Blue Devils ahead 46-34 at 15:47.
When Moore drilled a 3-pointer from the corner in front of Duke’s bench with 14:22 to play, the Blue Devils led 51-36 and appeared on their way to an easy win.
“I thought the end of the first half we really executed well,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We started the second half and we got to 15-point lead and we let up. And they did not. They just kept fighting.”
Boston College reeled off eight points in a row, aided when Williams hit Langford in the face while attempting to block his shot with 12:39 to play. Langford hit two free throws and, as the Eagles retained possession, added a driving layup.
Langford’s two free throws after Duke’s Theo John fouled him while blocking his dunk attempt left Duke with a 51-44 lead with 11:25 to play.
But Banchero stopped the run with a basket inside to trigger an 11-0 Blue Devils run. Moore added a 3-pointer and Keels tipped in Banchero’s miss before Banchero drove the lane to score on an up-and-under move.
When Jeremy Roach sank two free throws with 7:59 to play, Duke led 62-44 and the Eagles never threatened again.
Duke made its final four shots of the first half during a 13-4 run that put the Blue Devils ahead 37-28 at halftime. The Blue Devils shot 51.7%, receiving 10 points each from Griffin and Banchero in the first half.
Karnik scored 12 points prior to halftime helping keep the Eagles close. Duke never led by more than five points before Banchero scored on a drive then, with 11.3 seconds left in the half, drove and dished to Williams for a dunk giving the Blue Devils their nine-point halftime lead.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 7:08 PM.