Duke rips Georgia Tech: Singler's 30 points lead Blue Devils past Jackets

Duke took a small step forward with a big blowout last night.

The Blue Devils dismantled Georgia Tech 86-67, avenging a loss to the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta last month.

Kyle Singler led the way, scoring a career-high 30 points largely as result of hitting 8 of 10 3-point attempts.

The No. 10 Blue Devils improved to 18-4 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, and moved into first place by a half-game in a tight league race.

"We knew this game was going to be huge," said Singler, who struggled in a 71-67 loss to the Yellow Jackets on Jan. 9. "Beating Georgia Tech, who is one of the top teams in our league, is a really big win for us and one we needed on our home court."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke said that both teams were better last night than we they met a month ago. His team was clearly the better of the two last night.

The Blue Devils hit 12 of 18 3-point attempts, much better than the 6-of-28 performance the first time against the Yellow Jackets (16-6, 4-4). Improved defense was a welcome follow-up after Georgetown shot 72 percent against the Blue Devils on Saturday. And Duke dominated on the boards in a physical game against an athletic Georgia Tech team.

"We rebounded in both halves, and we hit shots," Krzyzewski said. "The obvious thing was Kyle. Thirty points in any game is big, but in a game like this it's a spectacular shooting performance…. Kyle was 2 of 13 in Atlanta, and he had at least five wide-open looks in Atlanta. We shot better and we rebounded better. We got outrebounded 28-12 in the second half in that (first) game."

The Blue Devils outscored the Yellow Jackets 22-11 in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Singler hit a 3-pointer for the corner with one second left, which left No. 21 Tech in a 45-33 hole.

Duke had a 27-15 advantage in rebounding in the first half, and had 12 offensive rebounds. Lance Thomas finished with 11 rebounds, one short of matching a career high.

"We fought for every rebound," said Thomas, who said that he had his best game of the season. "They have strong, athletic guys. They have a lot of strength inside so we had to make sure we put contact on them and chase down the rebounds. We initiated contact. And I think we played a lot smarter, as far as just being in position."

And Thomas played a key role in holding Zachary Peacock, who came off the bench and scored Georgia Tech's first 11 points, to zero the rest of the way.

"The obvious story is Kyle, but the hidden story is Lance," Krzyzewski said. "Lance played a great game defensively, and getting 11 rebounds was outstanding."

Singler, taking advantage of a third turnover by Georgia Tech in the first four minutes of the second half, hinted at an early knockout punch with a 3-pointer that boosted the lead to 53-37. He then delivered, nailing another in transition to stretch the lead to 21 by midway through the second half.

"We just wanted to keep giving him the ball," teammate Jon Scheyer said of Singler, who was 6 of 6 from beyond the arc in the second half. "It was crazy to see it go in like that."

Scheyer had 21 points and seven assists for Duke. Nolan Smith had 14 points.

tbowman@wsjournal.com.


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GT Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Bell 23 4-5 0-1 0-0 1 3 8

Favors 24 4-5 0-0 2-7 0 3 8

Lawal 16 3-4 3-8 0-6 0 4 9

Udofia 20 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 3 0

Shumpert 30 1-7 1-2 0-3 6 1 3

MMiller 9 1-2 3-4 1-1 0 3 5

Storrs 2 1-2 1-1 1-2 0 0 3

Oliver 21 2-7 4-4 3-4 0 2 9

Sheehan 10 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 2 1

Peacock 28 4-10 2-4 1-2 2 2 11

Rice Jr 17 4-5 1-2 2-4 3 4 10

Totals 200 24-49 16-28 12-32 12 27 67

Percentages: FG .490, FT .571; 3-Point Goals: 3-12, .250 (Peacock 1-2, Rice Jr. 1-2, Oliver 1-4, M.Miller 0-1, Storrs 0-1, Shumpert 0-2); Team Rebounds: 2; Blocked Shots: 2 (Rice Jr., Favors); Turnovers: 15 (Shumpert 4, Lawal 3, Udofia 2, Bell 2, Rice Jr. 2, Peacock); Steals: 7 (Shumpert 4, Favors, Bell, Sheehan); Technical Fouls: Rice Jr..

DUKE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Singler 37 9-17 4-5 2-5 2 3 30

MiPlumlee 10 1-4 0-2 1-1 0 3 2

Thomas 33 1-2 4-4 5-11 1 4 6

Smith 39 5-12 4-6 1-3 4 2 14

Scheyer 39 5-10 9-10 0-3 7 1 21

MaPlumlee 18 2-5 0-3 0-1 1 5 5

Kelly 7 1-2 0-0 1-4 0 2 3

Davidson 3 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Johnson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Peters 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Zoubek 13 1-3 3-6 4-7 0 4 5

Totals 200 25-56 24-36 17-40 15 25 86

Percentages: FG .446, FT .667; 3-Point Goals: 12-18, .667 (Singler 8-10, Scheyer 2-4, Ma.Plumlee 1-1, Kelly 1-1, Smith 0-1, Davidson 0-1); Team Rebounds: 4; Blocked Shots: 1 (Zoubek); Turnovers: 12 (Thomas 3, Scheyer 3, Smith 2, Singler, Ma.Plumlee, Zoubek); Steals: 6 (Scheyer 2, Thomas 2, Singler, Smith); Technical Fouls: None.

Georgia Tech 33 34 -- 67


Duke 45 41 -- 86

A--9,314