DeMarcus Nelson scored 19 of his 21 pts in the second half to lead #3 Duke past Miami, 88-73.
Greg Paulus scored 16 pts for the Blue Devils (19-1, 7-0 ACC), who won their ninth straight by scoring on nine of their first 10 possessions of the second half.
James Dews scored 15 for Miami (15-6, 2-5), who have lost two straight and five of six, but kept things tight for most of the first half.
After the break, Nelson took over. The Duke captain scored 10 pts during a dominating 3-minute stretch early in the half, starting the scoring with a steal and a fastbreak layup the first time the Blue Devils had the ball and later hitting field goals on four straight possessions.
Nelson's follow-up of Paulus' missed 3-pointer with 17 minutes left started a 17-6 run that pushed Duke's lead into double figures to stay. Kyle Singler knocked down 3s roughly a minute apart during the spurt, and fellow freshman Taylor King capped it with a 3 from the right wing to make it 62-44 with 13 minutes remaining.
Miami couldn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way and lost for the 10th straight time in the series, falling to 0-5 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Singler finished with 14 points for Duke, which held a surprising 41-36 rebounding advantage and overcame poor first half shooting performance.
Nelson led the ACC's best perimeter defense in hounding McClinton, the league's top 3-point shooter. McClinton was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc — just the second time all season he was held without a 3.
Now, Coach K and the Team can devote its full attention to perhaps the biggest rivalry in college basketball — and dealing a cross-town rivalry ass-kicking to the Tarholez.
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