By Craig Saperstein
The Chronicle

Despite the fact that they beat an opponent dressed in baby blue last night, the Blue Devils realize that the Ivy League's Columbia Lions are not comparable to the other team dressed in that color, the North Carolina Tarheels.

Duke cruised to an easy 99-52 over the Lions last night in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but after the game, the Blue Devils expressed concern over their play.

We don't have the habits that I would like us to have right now, offensively and defensively, coach Mike Krzyzewski said. We're not as far along as I'd like us to be right now.

This inefficiency was quite apparent at the start of the game, as Duke only led 25-11 with 8:43 remaining in the first half, hardly an impressive margin over a team outmatched in skill and size. However, after a Mike Dunleavy three-pointer, the Blue Devils picked up their defensive intensity as their full-court pressure led to consecutive steals and easy fast-break lay-ups by Jason Williams and Shane Battier.

The 30-8 run that ensued to end the first half culminated in a Chris Carrawell buzzer-beating baseline jumper with just one tick left on the clock, giving the Blue Devils a 55-19 halftime lead.

Carrawell's end-of-half heroics were just one example of his solid play throughout the night. As Duke's most important contributor, the senior established himself as an effective scorer to complement his already respected defensive reputation. Leading the team with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Carrawell not only scored from inside and outside, but also ran the team effectively when point guard Jason Williams was taken out of the game.

"Carrawell played an outstanding game," Krzyzewski said. "He was very precise. When he was running the team, we seemed to function very well."

Although Carrawell and his teammates were able to shoot nearly 60 percent from the field, Duke's poor execution in other areas was quite noticeable. Turnovers were especially troublesome, as the Blue Devils gave up the ball 17 times. Duke's freshmen had the most difficulty holding on to the ball, committing 13 of these turnovers.

Still, one of these freshmen, Carlos Boozer, helped make up for these mistakes by providing a big presence in the post, scoring 16 points while registering five rebounds. Boozer was also effective at drawing attention down low and then dishing the ball out to his teammates, recording five assists, three of which resulted in three-pointers.

Despite Boozer's solid offensive play, Krzyzewski and his players were not pleased with the team's overall defensive effort. Although it was able to force 20 Lion turnovers, the Duke defense had many breakdowns, a few of which allowed Columbia's smaller players-in typical Ivy League fashion-to make backdoor cuts that beat Duke defenders.

In the second half, the Lions played the home team much more evenly, as the Blue Devils committed 11 turnovers and only outscored Columbia 44-33. Columbia's Craig Austin played a large part in the Blue Devils' unraveling, scoring 10 out of his game-high 14 points in the second period.

Furthermore, after decidedly outrebounding the Lions 25-13 in the first half, Duke failed to utilize its size advantage, grabbing three more rebounds than Columbia in the second half.

In order to play competitively in their upcoming four-game road stretch, which starts Saturday against Southern Cal, the Blue Devils will have to work out the problems that recurred time and again last night. Carrawell attributes much of these underachievements to the Blue Devils' problems playing well as a team, as most players still aren't exactly sure how they fit in.

"We played hard tonight, but we didn't play well as a unit," Carrawell said. "We have a good team, but roles need to be defined."