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Duke seeks to avoid first five-game skid under Krzyzewski

Feb 14, 2007 - 2:38 PM Duke (18-7) at No. 21 Boston College (18-6) 9:00 pm EST

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Unranked for the first time in 10 years, Duke will try to end its longest losing skid in 12 years when it faces No. 21 Boston College in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest.

The Blue Devils (18-7, 5-6) have lost four straight games for the first time since the 1994-95 season when Pete Gaudet served as interim coach. Duke never has lost five consecutive games under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Duke is coming off a 72-60 defeat at Maryland on Sunday. The Blue Devils scored the first five points but could not recover from an immediate 29-4 response by Maryland.

Josh McRoberts had 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Greg Paulus scored 12 and freshman Jon Scheyer added 11 for Duke.

Boston College (18-6, 9-2 ACC), which has a one-half game lead over North Carolina for first place in the conference, has won four straight games, including Sunday's 68-67 triumph over Florida State.

The Eagles trailed throughout, but Tyrelle Blair's jumper from the left elbow with 3.3 seconds left - his only basket of the game - provided the victory. Jared Dudley had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Tyrese Rice also scored 23 for Boston College.

Duke leads the all-time series, 7-1, including 2-0 here. On January 28, the Blue Devils won their sixth straight in the series, 75-61, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

DeMarcus Nelson scored 17 points, McRoberts added 16 and 11 rebounds and Paulus and Scheyer each scored in double figures. Dudley had 17 points and eight boards for Boston College.

McRoberts is averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games against Boston College in his career, making 15-of-22 shots from the field.