Freshman forward Matthew Hurt scored 20 first-half points on the way to a season-high 25 as second-ranked Duke bashed visiting Boston College 88-49 in its Atlantic Coast Conference home opener Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.
Hurt matched his previous season high by halftime, hitting a pair of 3-pointers from the corner in the final minute. He drained 8 of 11 shots before the break, including four treys, to outscore the entire Boston College team by one point.
Duke (12-1, 2-0 ACC) won its sixth game in a row, including five victories in a perfect December. All the results in the winning streak came by double-figure margins.
Blue Devils guard Tre Jones was back in action after a two-game absence caused by a mild sprain of his left foot. He had five points, five rebounds and 10 assists.
Wendell Moore Jr. added 11 points for Duke, which closed a three-game homestand.
CJ Felder notched 13 points for Boston College (8-6, 2-1), which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Hurt led Duke in scoring for the third time this season. It's the ninth game this season that the Blue Devils' top scorer has been a freshman.
Duke stormed to a 42-16 lead on the way to a 45-19 halftime score. The Blue Devils shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first half compared to Boston College's 28.6 percent.
Duke is one of three teams, joining Louisville and Virginia, without an ACC loss.
The game marked the return of graduate transfer Derryck Thornton, a Boston College guard who played his freshman season for Duke. Thornton played the past two seasons at Southern California before returning to the ACC.
Thornton scored the game's first basket. He finished with six points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field.
Boston College was 2-0 in the ACC for the first time in nine years until taking its fifth loss by double figures this season.
Duke posted its 300th victory of the decade.
--Field Level Media
Boston College | Duke | |
CJ Felder 13 | Scoring | Matthew Hurt 25 |
Steffon Mitchell 3 | Assists | Tre Jones 10 |
CJ Felder 6 | Rebounds | Vernon Carey Jr. 9 |
Jared Hamilton 2 | Free Throws Made | Cassius Stanley 3 |
Steffon Mitchell 4 | Steals | Javin DeLaurier 2 |
CJ Felder 2 | Blocks | Vernon Carey Jr. 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Boston College | 49 | 33.9 | 3-18 | 4-11 | 8 | 27 | 4 | 10 | 19 |
Duke | 88 | 51.5 | 12-28 | 6-9 | 20 | 42 | 7 | 9 | 15 |