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DURHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Boston College's search for respect lasted 20 minutes. Despite trailing by just four points at the break, the 25th-ranked Eagles were buried in the opening moments after halftime and suffered a 97-75 loss to No. 2 Duke in a non-conference affair. The Eagles (12-2) visited Cameron Indoor Stadium with a national ranking and an impressive record but have been looked down upon by many because of an extremely soft early-season schedule that included several lower-level Division I opponents. On Tuesday, they battled arguably the nation's premier program through the first half but did not have enough to sustain the strong play against a Blue Devils' team that was ranked second in the country in scoring at 93.8 points per game. Possibly frustrated by the struggles, Boston College junior forward Kenny Walls nearly began a fight with eight-tenths of a second left when he threw a forearm into Duke guard Jason Williams near half-court. Williams, who scored a career-high 34 points, had been holding the ball in front of him and faking several passes as the clock wound down, which Walls apparently felt amounted to taunting. When the buzzer finally sounded, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski ordered his team to the locker room without the usual postgame handshakes. Williams also dished out nine assists as Duke shot 58 percent (35-of-60), including a blistering 70 percent in the second half, when it made half of its 10 3-point attempts and outscored the Eagles, 55-37. Shane Battier and Carlos Boozer netted 22 points apiece and combined to grab 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils (16-1), who won their sixth straight and improved to 3-1 in the all-time series with Boston College. The Eagles were led by Troy Bell, who scored 16 points but was held five below his average. Walls and Uka Agbai each had 13 points. Duke has won 134 of its last 137 non-conference home games and improved to 9-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season. It held a 42-38 edge at the break but opened the second half with a 13-4 run to open a 13-point advantage with 17 minutes to go. The lead ballooned to 18 points halfway through the period, turning the final 10 minutes into garbage time. Duke was outrebounded, 38-37, but held the Eagles to 38 percent (28-of-73) shooting from the floor and turned 16 turnovers into 22 points. Kenny Harley scored 10 points and Jonathan Beerbohm had 10 and 12 rebounds for Boston College, which was 8-of-20 from beyond the arc.
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