Singler, Nelson Lift Duke Over BC, 90-80

The Frosh and the Senior combine to power Duke over Boston College, 90-80. With 24 pts and 10 boards from Kyle Singler, along with DeMarcus Nelson adding 23 as #2 Duke shook off some early uninspired play and extended its winning streak to 11.

"I was more worried about this game than UNC," Coach K said. "Not that I was sure we were going to win on Wednesday, but I was sure we'd be ready, sure that we were going to be there. This one, the last two days I've been on them like crazy. We just weren't sharp."

The Blue Devils (21-1, 9-0 ACC), turned 21 BC turnovers into 21 points and overcame a huge game from Tyrese Rice with a late 17-2 run.

Rice, the ACC's second-leading scorer, scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half for the Eagles (12-10, 3-6), the second straight game usually stingy Duke has allowed a 28-point scorer.

"He had the ball in his hands at all times," Nelson said of Rice. "He has the freedom at any time to create, and he can create. He's great off the dribble in creating shots, and he's crafty. He was hitting shots, and we didn't do a good job of defending him, myself included. We changed that in the second half."

Still, Boston College gave Duke its tightest game of the season in its notoriously noisy arena. The Blue Devils entered having won their previous 11 home games by an average of 27 1/2 points, with their prior closest game a 93-80 victory against Clemson.

"People have to come against us because we've had a lead," Coach K said. "It hasn't necessarily been a huge lead, sometimes it's been double digits, and we're able to dictate how the last few minutes of the game has been played. If we can do that, it lends itself to us winning."

Duke couldn't pull away in this one until midway through the second half, when Singler bookended the decisive run with 3-pointers from the same area of the court.

First, he put the Blue Devils ahead to stay and started the run with a 3 from the left corner to make it 66-65 at the 9:11 mark. Then, after Nelson's 3 from the opposite corner with 6:30 to play pushed it to 77-67 -- Duke's first double-figure lead -- Singler converted 35 seconds later from the left corner to give the Blue Devils a 13-point advantage.

Jon Scheyer added 11 points for the Blue Devils, who are on their longest winning streak in ACC play since the Redick/Williams led 2005-06 team started the conference schedule 14-0.

"We come into every game expecting to win, and collectively as a group, we share something," Singler said. "We wanted to run through the ACC and win it, and to do that, we can't lose to teams."