BC 78-74, :12.8: Duke can't get it to go down and is forced to foul once again. Barring a miraculous 13 seconds, BC has this one wrapped up.
BC 76-74, :23.4: BC retakes the lead, and a Henderson jumper rims out. The Eagles grab the rebound, and Paulus is forced to foul Rice. He makes both to give the Eagles a 4-point lead.
BC 74-72, 1:13: Rice drains a long 3 from the left wing, but Singler counters with a drive on the other end. He misses but is fouled, and he misses both free throws. But Henderson tips the rebound back to Singler, who floats it in to tie the game.
DUKE 72-71, 1:53: Jackson missed those, but he missed a pair at 2:42, opening the door for a Scheyer 3 to give Duke a one-point lead. The Eagles retook it on two Trapani free throws, but Henderson just knocked down a stepback jumper.
BC 67-66, 3:41 2nd: Duke's defense has forced several BC turnovers, but the Blue Devils have not been able to capitalize on all of them and as a result have not regained the lead. Paulus just fouled Jackson on a mid-range jumper. He's going to the line after the timeout's over for two important free throws. Duke needs to get the lead back soon to try to deflate an increasingly confident BC team.
BC 60-57, 7:40 2nd: These Eagles aren't going away. BC got another fastbreak layup to push its lead to 5, but Thomas countered with a tip in off a Singler miss to get Duke back within 3. Henderson is 0-for-5 this half after going 5-for-10 in the first. The Blue Devils need him to do better than that if they are going to get this road win.
BC 58-55, 8:59 2nd: Reggie Jackson gives BC its first lead of the game with a fallaway 3 from the right wing, then Duke turns it over and the Eagles get an easy fastbreak layup to go up by 3. Duke, meanwhile, has struggled to hit shots in the last few minutes. The Blue Devils need to regain their composure to prevent the Eagles from making this run any worse.
51-51, 11:26 2nd: As the score suggests, BC isn't backing down. The fouls are really starting to pile up for both teams, as Duke is in the bonus (8 team fouls for BC) and the Eagles are in the double bonus. Trapani just tied the score after Scheyer turned the ball over on the fastbreak. Rice picked up the ball and zipped a pass to Trapani, who ignited the crowd with a powerful dunk. Henderson missed a shot on the other end, but Singler was fouled on the putback attempt and is going to the line when we come out of the timeout.
DUKE 46-42, 15:45 2nd: The beginning of the second half is looking a lot more like the end of the first than the start of the game. Rice hit a long 3 from the right wing to start the half, giving him 2,000 career points. The teams have traded baskets since then, with BC pulling within one but unable to knot the score. The crowd has even gotten loud at times -- if only briefly -- before a Duke bucket to quiet them down. The Blue Devils have already recorded six team fouls, so BC will be shooting free throws soon. Paulus has three personals and Smith has two, so the next stretch will be critical in making sure the Blue Devils' point guards don't get in any further trouble.
DUKE 37-32, HALFTIME: All things considered, it's pretty remarkable that it's only a five point lead for Duke. Aside from their 3-point shooting -- a 1-for-9 performance -- the Blue Devils have done just about everything right, from forcing BC into 10 turnovers to outrebounding the Eagles 17-10. Singler and Henderson both had big halves for Duke. Rice was quiet until the last minute, when he exploded for five points to give BC some momentum going into halftime. Keep an eye on him in the second half. If he comes out firing like he was at the end of the period, this one could be close for the rest of the way. But if Duke is able to contain him as it was for the first 19 minutes of the game, BC will need a heroic performance from someone else -- possibly Rakim Sanders, who scored 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half -- to prevent the Blue Devils from pulling away.
DUKE 37-32, HALF: Rice hits a runner and Henderson misses a last-second 3 from the top of the key as BC closes to within five heading into halftime.
DUKE 37-30, :59.8 1st: Rice hits a pull-up 3 on the fastbreak to pull his team within 7 and force Mike Krzyzewski to call The last thing Duke wants is for Rice to find his stroke going into the break.
DUKE 31-22, 3:45 1st: And right on cue, Paulus started the next four-minute stretch with a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup. Rice finally scored his first points with a drive from the left wing, but his potential highlight-reel play -- a no-look pass to Reggie Jackson inside -- was prevented by Singler, who rejected Jackson. Singler has played well this half, notching 9 points and 3 rebounds to go with that block and, combined with his performance against the Tar Heels, appears to have broken out of his slump.
DUKE 25-16, 7:13 1st: It's clear that Rice is the leader of this team, whether he's on the scoreboard or not. He was on the bench for the first minute out of the timeout, and the Eagles looked lost without him, sending a pass sailing out of bounds on their first possession. Duke's defense has kicked up in the last few minutes, with a steal leading to a pretty Henderson lefty hook at the 8:30 mark. A few possessions later, the Eagles narrowly avoided a 10-second call, and Rice had to force up a 25-footer with the shot clock winding down.
DUKE 19-16, 9:51 1st: Rice still hasn't scored, but the other Eagles are playing very well. Trapani and Sanders both hit 3-pointers in the time since the last media timeout, as BC closed the gap to 3. Zoubek had been giving the Blue Devils a lift off the bench before being called for traveling on the last possession before the timeout, negating a chance to make up for Henderson's missed jumper.
DUKE 11-6, 14:33 1st: Duke doesn't seem to be showing any lingering effects from the loss to North Carolina, as the Blue Devils have come out sharp on both sides of the ball. Henderson has nailed a couple long jumpers, and Duke's defense has looked much stronger than it did in the second half against UNC. Rice has an assist but other than that has been unable to get anything going. Sanders has all six of BC's points.
STARTING LINEUPS: Singler, Thomas, Paulus, Henderson, Scheyer for Duke; Rice, Raji, Trapani, Sanders, Southern for BC
PREGAME: We're live in Silvio Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. BC fans aren't known for being the rowdiest in the ACC, but they seem to be coming out in full force for this one. The question tonight: How does Duke come back after suffering an emotional defeat to North Carolina in Cameron Wednesday night, and can the Blue Devils, losers of three of their last five, stop their current slide against the Eagles? Duke couldn't stop Ty Lawson Wednesday, and now the Blue Devils have to find a way to slow down senior guard Tyrese Rice, who may not be as quick as Lawson, but is a better scorer. He's averaged 25 points per game in his last two contests against Duke, but as long as he doesn't go off for 30+, the other Eagles will have a hard time keeping up with the Blue Devils, assuming the hangover from UNC isn't too great.
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