Parker leads Duke over BC
BOSTON: Jabari Parker put on a show for both college and NBA fans in Boston. The freshman sensation set career highs with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Quinn Cook hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, and No. 11 Duke coasted to an 8968 win over Boston College on Saturday night.
“Jabari was a monster today with the amount of rebounds and points,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He wasn’t rewarded on the offensive boards with some of his finishes or it could have been a 3536-point game.”
Parker shot 12 of 17 from the floor, getting baskets mostly from drives and dunks as the Eagles tried a number of different defenses against him.
“Jabari was really difficult to handle for anyone tonight,” Krzyzewski said. “We just tried to give him some different looks. He got quite a bit in transition.” With subtle cheers going up along with “oohs” when he did something exciting, Parker became the main focus of many in the crowd.
There were a large number of Duke fans and, very likely, a good number of Boston Celtics fans interested in getting a live look at Parker as the local NBA franchise looks to rebuild quickly through the draft after dealing veteran stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn last summer. Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge sat courtside. “I’ve seen him a lot growing up. I think the thing you don’t realize on tape is, he has an extra pop,” BC coach Steve Donahue said. “It’s 6-8, 235 (pounds). It’s an extra quickness that you don’t see even in this league, and extra explosiveness.”
Rasheed Sulaimon added 10 points for the Blue Devils (19-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). Parker extended his Duke freshman record to 14 games with 20 points or more.