BOSTON (AP) -- Carlos Boozer turned a battle of the backcourts into a blowout. Duke's Carlos Boozer gets loose from Boston College's Brian Ross and scores two of his 28 points the easy way. The Duke center tied his career-high with 28 points and added seven rebounds Thursday night as the top-ranked Blue Devils opened a 29-point first-half lead and coasted to an 88-78 victory over Boston College. "We've got the best perimeter in college basketball," Boozer said. "I try to complement those guys so they can make 3s and break down the defense." Dahntay Jones had 18 points and six rebounds and Mike Dunleavy had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for Duke (17-1), which has won five consecutive games by an average of almost 20 points since its only defeat, to Florida State, on Jan. 6. "We're in the third week of our season. That's the way we look at it," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. Boozer's play overshadowed the matchup of two of the nation's top backcourts. Duke's Jason Williams leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and BC's Troy Bell is the top scorer in the Big East. BC's guards, Bell and Ryan Sidney, each had eight turnovers, but they outscored Williams and Chris Duhon 36-25. Still, there was no question which was the better team. "I'm looking at the bottom line," BC coach Al Skinner said. "They won, we lost." Williams scored 15 points and Duhon had 10 with seven assists for the Blue Devils. Bell scored 26 points and Sidney had 10 as Boston College (14-5) lost for the fourth time in its last six games. "We wanted to come out and make a statement that they had no chance of winning the game," Duhon said. Uka Agbai had nine rebounds and a career-high 20 points and Kenny Walls scored 14 points for the Eagles, who had been ranked in the Top 25 for 20 consecutive polls -- climbing to No. 10 earlier this season -- before dropping out this week. Duke used two 13-0 runs in the first half to open leads of 20-3 and 42-13. The Blue Devils led by 20 at halftime and 70-42 on Boozer's layup with 12:51 left in the game before BC mustered enough of a charge to make it respectable. "It seemed to me like we were in kind of a daze or something," Agbai said. "You can't turn the ball over like we did and expect to win." It was 71-44 when BC scored 10 of the next 12 points, then added an 8-0 run to make it 75-62 while holding Duke to one basket over six minutes. Bell hit a leaner from the lane to make it 77-66 with 4:07 left. But Sidney fouled out at the other end and Williams made one free throw. Dunleavy followed with a turnaround jumper to make it 80-66, and BC only closed to 10 points with Andrew Bryant's 22-footer at the buzzer. "The good thing was that we did battle back," Skinner said. "I'm not saying we would have won the game, but we did have a chance to get it under single digits." After losing to Florida State for the only blemish on its record, Duke won its next four games by an average of 22 points, including a 99-78 victory over No. 3 Maryland last week. During the football season, Boston College gave Miami its biggest scare on its way to the national championship, losing on a deflected 90-yard interception in the final seconds. But the only moral victory this time was that the Eagles made it relatively close at the end. The BC fans started doing Florida State's "Tomahawk Chop" in the first half in the hopes of borrowing some luck, but that couldn't do it either. The top-scoring team in nation, Duke has beaten 41 of its last 42 unranked opponents and 20 in a row outside the ACC. Duke made its first eight shots and scored on every possession until Williams stepped on the sideline for a turnover with 14 minutes left in the half. By that time, Duke led 19-3. After Boozer scored to open the second half, Bell made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 19. It was his first 3-pointer after missing at least 22 in a row over the previous three-plus games.

ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard Duke Clubhouse Boston College Clubhouse Katz: Fouling Williams no long Blue Devils' Achilles Heel BC guard Sidney claims ref cursed at him Top 25 RECAPS January 24 - FINAL (1) Duke 88 Boston College 78 January 24 - FINAL (7) Virginia 93 VMI 59 January 24 - FINAL (14) Stanford 86 (13) UCLA 76 January 24 - FINAL (18) Gonzaga 93 San Francisco 73 January 24 - FINAL (19) Miami Fla 76 Villanova 58 January 24 - FINAL Washington 97 (21) Oregon 92 January 24 - FINAL - OVERTIME California 92 (22) USC 91 January 24 - FINAL (23) Ohio St 69 Michigan 47 AUDIO/VIDEO  Duke vs. Boston College Duke's Dahntay Jones picks up the bucket and the foul on the drive to the hoop. avi: 1334 k Standard | Cable Modem  Duke vs. Boston College Boston College's Troy Bell drives and finishes with the bank shot. avi: 1678 k Standard | Cable Modem  Duke vs. Boston College Duke's Mike Dunleavy steps up and knocks down the three. avi: 1061 k Standard | Cable Modem  Duke vs. Boston College Troy Bell gets the steal and takes it coast-to-coast. avi: 1259 k Standard | Cable Modem