CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Shane Battier scored 19 points and No. 3 Duke opened its quest for its 11th ACC title by dominating Clemson inside and out in a 94-63 victory Thursday night.

The Blue Devils (25-4) shot 56 percent, including making an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament-record 17 of 29 3-point attempts, and had a 38-28 edge on the boards, helping them defeat Clemson for the ninth consecutive time.

Duke used a 31-4 run in the first half to take control of a game that matched the highest-scoring team in the ACC against the league's last-place team in scoring and shooting.

Freshman Mike Dunleavy made a successful return after missing four games with mononucleosis as Duke, the tournament's top seed, advanced to Saturday's semifinals. Dunleavy played 20 minutes, made six of seven 3-pointers and finished with 16 points.

Nate James added 18 points for Duke, Jason Williams had 14 and Chris Carrawell added 11.

Ninth-seeded Clemson (10-20) shot 37 percent and had 17 turnovers. The Tigers have lost three games to Duke this season by a combined 79 points.

Clemson, losing to the Blue Devils in the ACC tournament for the fourth consecutive time, got 14 points from Will Solomon, 11 from Andrius Jurkunas and 10 from Ray Henderson.

Duke, the defending ACC champion, opened its title defense by shooting 61 percent in the first half, including 10 of 14 from 3-point range, and outrebounding Clemson 22-9.

The Tigers, trailing 15-14 and looking for their first lead, instead turned the ball over to start the decisive run.

While Clemson missed 9-of-11 field-goal attempts, Duke made six of seven from 3-point range alone. Dunleavy led the way, hitting all three of his long-range shots.

Dunleavy capped the surge with a 21-footer from the top of the key, stretching Duke's lead to 46-18.

Jurkunas scored the next six points, but the Blue Devils stayed true to form and answered with a 3-pointer, this one from James, and stretched their lead to 23 at halftime.

At one stage in the second half, the Tigers had 34 points _ and were trailing by 31.

Clemson fell behind by as many as 33 in the late stages.