Happy birthday, Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Led by Jahlil Okafor's career-high 28 points, No. 2 Duke defeated Boston College 85-62 on an afternoon where fans celebrated Cameron Indoor Stadium's 75th anniversary. Duke used a 17-2 run in the first half to pull away and dominate the visiting Eagles to pick up its first win of the ACC season.
"[The] first ACC game is always different," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Our defense in the first 8-10 minutes of the first half was unbelievable. If we hit some open shots in that time, even though we had a 16-point lead, I thought we could have really extended it."
Okafor battled Dennis Clifford—Boston College's 7-foot center—and John Carney in the paint, and with another career-high performance in the books, it would be fair to say Okafor won battle. The Chicago native was aggressive all night, forcing Clifford to pick up what Okafor called "cheap fouls" and foul out of the game. Duke's big man went 14-of-17 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks.
In the early going of both halves, Boston College (7-5, 0-1 in the ACC) managed to make things interesting. After the opening 13 minutes, the Eagles trailed just 21-18 and were on a 6-0 run. Guard Olivier Hanlan led the way for his squad, as he would pour in a team-high eight points in that opening stretch and finish the game with 22 points.
The Eagles took advantage of Duke's decision to switch on defense in the early going. Hanlan would blow by Okafor after the Blue Devil switched onto him and converted three easy layups. And whenever Hanlan or one of the other Boston College guards were contested and missed, Clifford was there to clean up on the glass. Hanlan and Clifford scored Boston College's first 15 points and largely kept the Eagles in the game.
"Hanlan is a load to defend. He played well," Krzyzewski said. "[Clifford] is a skilled 7-footer. To start off the game, you have to help off him, and when Hanlan missed, Clifford put in three offensive rebound buckets."
But the success was short-lived, as from that point on, Duke (13-0, 1-0) would go on a 17-4 run and seemingly put the game out of reach.
Boston College would not go away, however, as it came out of the break and clawed its way back into the game, cutting the lead down to 48-38 with 15:19 remaining in the contest. Once again, though, the Blue Devils turned it on.
Okafor scored six of the next eight points and Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon knocked down back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to 66-43 in just five minutes of play and put the game away for Duke.
"It was a little bit more physical than the past two games, and they had a 7-foot-1 guy—he was one of the biggest guys I've played all year," Okafor said. "It was tough and the coaches informed me it was going to be another intensity level."
Justise Winslow provided the Cameron Crazies with plenty to get excited about, as the freshman swingman threw down two vicious left-handed slams, including one in the first half that would be spark the 17-2 run for the Blue Devils.
The game also featured the expected amount of conference scrappiness, as Boston College's Clifford and Dimitri Batten both picked up flagrant fouls after a few too many extra bumps on Okafor. But despite the chippy play, Okafor maintained his composure, evidenced by his career night from the charity stripe.
"He has a toughness. Jah is special in every way. I thought he handled everything today very well," Krzyzewski said. "He's really got everything, including being a great teammate and a great demeanor."
Duke will get a three-day break before playing heading to Wake Forest Wednesday at 9 p.m.
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