CHARLOTTE— Duke has won more than its fair share of conference championships, but coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t like to lump them together.

Krzyzewski tries to find uniqueness in every tournament title the Blue Devils capture, a task that won’t prove very difficult following the Blue Devils’ 91-61 victory against N.C. State in Sunday’s ACC final at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Duke, behind 26 points from MVP Carlos Boozer, became the first team in ACC history to win four consecutive tournament championships.

The Blue Devils, who beat North Carolina 79-53 in last season’s finale, can also take credit for the second and third largest margins of victory in title game history.

“A bunch is for bananas, not championships. Each win is incredibly important.” Krzyzewski said. “Each one puts a banner up in Cameron. Each one has a heart of its own.”

Boozer, in particular, put his prints on this Blue Devil blowout. The junior center from Alaska had never been Duke’s leading scorer in an ACC Tournament game, but he hit 11 of 12 shots to finish with a game-high 26 points.

In three tournament games, Boozer hit 20 of 24 field-goal attempts and 14 of 19 free-throw tries, scored 54 points and grabbed 28 rebounds.

Boozer normally goes about his business quietly, but his teammates are quick to comply when he does call for the ball.

“Carlos will just yell out, and to hear a voice like that, you know he’s going to finish it,” said Duke guard Jason Williams, who scored 24 points and registered 10 assists.

Boozer and the Blue Devils (29-3) dominated for most of the game, although N.C. State (22-10) trailed by only five points with three minutes left in the first half.

Boozer missed a shot on Duke’s first possession 11 seconds into the game, but he was perfect from there on. Boozer has hit 76 of his last 91 attempts from the floor, an 84-percent clip.

“He is such a big target, like a black hole,”Duke guard Chris Duhon said. “He sucks it in, and it makes for easy assists.”

Boozer hit six first-half shots in a row to give the Blue Devils a 33-25 advantage, but a 3-pointer by State’s Anthony Grundy (13 points) brought the Pack back.

Grundy and Archie Miller had sparked a 12-2 run to close the gap to five, but Duke outscored State 13-4 over the final three minutes of the half.

Blue Devil forward Mike Dunleavy, who scored 18 points, hit two 3s and scored nine points during the decisive run.

“It was just us crawling back in it and getting ourselves in position to where we could make another run late and really get it tight,” Miller said. “I think those last four minutes, they really broke it back open to finish the half, and that was a big part of the game.”

The Blue Devils essentially clinched the win in the first three minutes of the second half. Julius Hodge scored six of State’s first nine points, and he celebrated wildly after each basket.

Hodge even slapped the floor enthusiastically after a Williams turnover, and Williams later gave Hodge a small shove to get the Wolfpack freshman away from Duke’s huddle before a free throw.

Williams soon caught fire, nailing a 3-pointer to put Duke ahead 54-36 with 17:47 left. On the Blue Devils’ next possession, Williams got Hodge to leave his feet with a pump fake, then stepped in and drained a 17-footer.

Williams, the tournament MVP as a freshman, will leave Duke with Boozer after this season having never lost an ACC Tournament game.

“I don’t think it’s really going to sink in yet until after the whole thing’s over,”Williams said.

The Blue Devils, who have won 12 straight tourney games, have 13 championship game victories to their credit. Krzyzewski, who has been at Duke for seven of them, struggled to fathom his team’s current streak.

“I’ve been in the league for 22 years, and I know how precious each tournament win is, each game is,”he said. “It’s a little hard to believe, really.”

Other coaches in the league, such as State’s Herb Sendek, aren’t so stunned.

“I’ve maintained all along that they’re an awesome basketball team, and I think we all saw that again today,” Sendek said. “Every word and accolade has already been put next to their name, and deservedly so.”

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com .