The Blue Devils, several of them under the weather, thrashed Florida State 101-68 in their first game in Cameron since last week’s loss to Maryland. After losing for the first time in three years at home, it would’ve taken more than a cold for Duke to let another Atlantic Coast Conference opponent slip out of town with a win.

“We’ve got a few guys with the sniffles, some coughs,”said junior forward Shane Battier, one of five Duke starters to score in double figures. “It’s funny. Sometimes you play better sick. Even when you feel like crud, you play well.”

The Seminoles (9-13 overall, 4-7 ACC) felt worse than crud after committing 21 turnovers that led to 33 Blue Devil points. Those 33 free points matched perfectly the margin of victory for Duke, now 20-3, 11-1.

Battier, sick earlier in the week, scored 13 points. But freshman point guard Jason Williams showed no ill effects from the illness he caught from Battier. Williams poured in 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and had five flashy assists.

Fellow freshman Carlos Boozer, also getting over a bug, made his presence felt early. The 6-foot-8 forward brought the fans to their feet with a pair of monster dunks in the first half that helped the Blue Devils steadily increase their lead. Both slams came off FloridaState turnovers, and both helped change the game’s momentum.

“If we get Carlos playing with the intensity and the passion that it takes to rip down the rim, we’ll take that in a heartbeat,” Battier said. “If he pulls it down, that’s better for us.”

A delay of game might have helped Florida State collect its thoughts, but the Seminoles were out of luck. The loss to Maryland had transformed Duke into a whole new ball club.

“We played with a lot of energy. We were playing better than the score,”Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Florida State, to their credit, they stayed in there and then they got fouled. When we stopped fouling, that’s when the lead went up. We broke it open to 20 when we started playing defense without fouling.”

Battier scored four quick points to give Duke a 35-21 lead with 6:40 to play in the half, and the BlueDevils romped from that point on.

Senior Chris Carrawell missed a free throw that was tipped out to Nate James for a 3-pointer. Carrawell scored on a hard drive inside, then the next time down James rained in another 3 for a 43-23 advantage. Williams skied for a dunk on a fastbreak chance, Boozer scored a softer, gentler bucket in the low post and then it was Williams’ time in the spotlight again.

The flashy guard drained a 3-pointer, then followed a Seminole miscue with a ball fake and layup that had the crowd screaming for more and Duke in command at 53-28.

Again, the team’s 25-point lead came from — exactly — 25 points off turnovers. And the easy chances on the numerous breaks helped Duke shoot a smoldering 60 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

“That’s where it starts. We create turnovers and we want to run, get the ball and go,”said James, who finished with 17 points courtesy a perfect 4-for-4 from the 3-point arc. “Once we got after it on the defensive end things started happening for us offensively. We keep that going, continue to hit shots and make big plays.”

Duke’s 25-point halftime lead grew as large as 36 points as the starters rested throughout much of the second half. And as Battier watched the action from the bench, he liked the raucous cheers he heard much better than the stunned silence that followed last week.

“It was much more Cameron tonight. The crowd was great tonight, the Crazies came through, and we were up by 30,”Battier said. “Everything seemed right with the world.”