Duke puts down BC

Smith steps up to lead Duke in scoring on a big second half run.

Nolan Smith scored 24 points to help the Blue Devils pull away in the second half and beat Boston College 79-59 tonight, helping Duke regroup from a weekend loss at Georgia Tech.

Kyle Singler added 15 for the Blue Devils (14-2, 2-1 ACC), who pushed ahead for good late in the first half and pulled away in the opening minutes after the break. More impressively, they carried their 3-point shooting struggles from Atlanta back to Cameron Indoor Stadium and knocked down just one 3, yet still won convincingly with defense and a group of big men who are giving Duke some steadier production in the paint.

"Last year we wouldn't have won a game like that," Duke coach K said. "We had to hit 3s."

That's not to say that this year's group doesn't need the 3. It's just that the Blue Devils have a few more options when that shot isn't falling.

"We're not going to live and die by the 3 this year," Smith said. "We can get it in other ways. We can drive the basket, and we have bigs who want to finish inside. Whenever our 3s aren't falling, we have other ways to score."