No. 2 Duke, Williamson await Boston College

Almost nobody has been able to slow down No. 2 Duke and its superstar freshman Zion Williamson this season.

Now, it's Boston College's turn to try.

The Blue Devils (19-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will look to put on another showcase in front of a national TV audience when they host the Eagles (11-9, 2-6) on Tuesday night in Durham, N.C. It will mark the teams' first meeting since last season, when Boston College held on for an 89-84 win on their home court to stun top-ranked Duke.

That was before Williamson arrived. The 6-foot-7, 285-pounder already has set a freshman record for the program by scoring 25-plus points in 10 games, including 29 his last time out in Saturday's 91-61 romp against St. John's.

All signs point toward Williamson being the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, but he is focused on his current squad.

"You do think about it, but this is the only time I get to experience college," Williamson said in comments published by ESPN. "And even if I could've went straight from high school (to the NBA), I would've come to college. I feel like college is something I couldn't miss out on."

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is no stranger to coaching elite players, but he said Williamson was different.

"The world has changed in the last couple years, and nobody brought in the exposure that he's brought in," said Krzyzewski, whose team has won five straight games. "He had a million, 2 million followers (on social media) before he ever got here. When's that happen? But it's happening for him. ... The thing about that kid is, he doesn't want all that attention, and he handles it so well."

Williamson is averaging 22.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in 21 games. R.J. Barrett leads the team in scoring with an average of 23.1 points to go along with 7.3 boards.

Boston College is led by Ky Bowman, who is averaging 20.8 points and 7.8 rebounds. The Eagles could be without Wynston Tabbs, who is second on the team with 13.9 points per game but has been out with a knee injury.

Coach Jim Christian wants to see his Boston College team put on a better effort against Duke than it did three days earlier against Notre Dame. Christian fumed after the Eagles' 79-73 loss, which marked their seventh defeat in the past nine contests.

"The difference between winning and losing in the ACC is everybody needs to be focused," Christian said to reporters after the game. "Everybody on the floor needs to be unbelievably focused at a high level. Everybody needs to really understand what we're trying to do. ... Focus. Focus.

"And obviously the last part of it is you've got to be a more together team on the defensive end of the floor, and we're not. We weren't (against Notre Dame) in key stretches, and that's why you lose. We've got to fix it."

--Field Level Media