Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Duke
Men's Basketball Falls To No. 2 Duke
January 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2001
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press Writer
DURHAM, N.C. - Jason Williams has been Duke's ignitor this season. On Tuesday night, he torched Boston College.
Williams scored a career-high 34 points and had nine assists as No. 2 Duke won its sixth straight game, a 97-75 victory over No. 25 Boston College.
Williams, arguably the best player in the country over the last month, scored more than 20 points for the fifth time in seven games. He's averaged 26 points and six assists in five games against ranked opponents this season.
Against Boston College, Williams keyed the decisive run early in the second half and hounded Eagles sharpshooter Troy Bell for most of the night.
"He controlled the game for them and did what he had to do," said Boston College coach Al Skinner, whose team has lost two of three after opening 11-0. "That was the difference."
Boston College (12-2) pulled within 44-42 less than a minute into the second half, but Williams' pull-up jumper and two assists keyed an 11-0 run in less than two minutes.
Williams slapped the floor on successive Boston College possessions to stir up the crowd, then raised his arms on the next two to bring the decibel level higher.
He sent the "Cameron Crazies" into a frenzy with 17:18 left, feeding Carlos Boozer for a two-handed dunk that put the Blue Devils up 55-42.
Williams says it has been the encouragement of teammate Shane Battier that has led to his take-control attitude.
"That's one thing that he's said to me," said Williams, a sophomore. "The ball's in my hand the predominant time and I have to take control of it."
Duke (16-1) has averaged 101 points in six games since losing to Stanford on Dec. 21.
Williams hit 12 of 19 shots, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, and had five rebounds. His previous high was 30 points against Temple on Dec. 2.
Bell, who had scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games, led the Eagles with 16, but was just 4-of-16 from the field. The combination of Williams and Battier forced Bell into several bad shots in the second half as he went 1-for-7.
"They screen for him a lot and if you try to get over the top, he can beat you without the screen," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We decided that Jason had one side and Shane had the other side, and overall that was good."
Battier had 22 points, 15 on 3-pointers, and Boozer was 10-of-14 and scored 22. Both blocked four shots.
About the only mistake Williams made was a no-look pass to no one with six minutes left, but Duke led 81-62 at the time. He also goaded Kenny Walls into throwing an elbow with less than a second left, leading to technical for Walls and four free throws for Williams.
Duke went on an 11-3 run midway through the first half to build a 26-17 lead. Boozer's left-handed layup off a drive capped the run with 8:50 left.
Duke led 42-38 at halftime after struggling at times. The Blue Devils did a poor job of blocking out, leading to 13 Boston College offensive rebounds, and had 12 turnovers.
"We just need to rebound better," Krzyzewski said. "Over the last couple of games we've won big, but we've given up a lot of offensive boards and that bad habit hurt us. We did a much job of rebounding in the second half."
