It was another blowout victory for the Blue Devils, but it was a struggle to get there.
Duke jumped out quickly on the Eagles taking the early lead, but they were unable to distance themselves. BC took advantage of the Blue Devils' overplaying defense by using back cuts, and used that with a barrage of threes to stay in the game.
Olivier Hanlan had a great first half to pace Boston College, scoring 14 points in the opening frame.
Jabari Parker answered for Duke, recording 10 points and 7 rebounds.
It was apparent at halftime, with the Devils nursing a 39-35 lead, that Coach K stressed getting the ball to Parker more in the second half based on the fact that no one on BC could match up with him.
That turned out to be a worthwhile strategy.
Parker scored 14 points in the first nine minutes of the second half, getting to the rim - and the foul line - whenever he wanted. That sparked a 22-9 run over that same timespan that blew the game open for the Devils and cruised for the rest of the game, finishing with the 89-68 victory.
Parker finished with a monster game, totaling 29 points and 16 rebounds, and even added in some work on the defensive end with three blocks.
Quinn Cook also broke out of his slump, putting up 21 points on 7-10 shooting, including 5-7 from long range. Rasheed Sulaimon distributed the ball well, recording six assists to go along with his 10 points.
Hanlan had another great game for the Eagles in the losing effort, finishing with 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
This game is just the latest example of how good this Duke team is, and quite frankly how good Jabari is.
No one on the team really played great - with the exception of Parker - yet they still won by over 20 points. It was not the prettiest game, but Coach K's squad has so many skilled weapons that someone is bound to hurt you.
They have that "spurtability" we talk about in basketball that all the great teams have, which is the ability to go on runs that change a game. The term first started being used to describe the 2008 Kansas national championship team and their ability to get hot at any point no matter how the game was going.
But this Duke team has the highest level of spurtability of any team I have seen. Seemingly every game they've played, there's been a point in the game where things are tight, then someone gets hot and in the blink of an eye, it's not a game anymore.
It happened at Syracuse, at Pitt, against Miami and Florida State, tonight, I could go on and on. It's the thing that will carry them in the tournament, and keep them in games they shouldn't be in or blow games open that should beclose.
We also got a look at the old Jabari Parker. We may have forgotten just how dominant and unstoppable he is when he's taking good shots and playing efficient offense since he hasn't done that in a while.
But after a big game against Wake and another huge performance tonight, it's safe to say that Jabari's back. I know it was just Boston College, but he was absolutely dominant.
With the way him and this team are playing, good luck ACC.
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