BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Cameron Boozer scored 24 points to lead No. 4 Duke to a 72-58 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday for its ninth straight victory.
Boozer, after a 19-point effort in the Blue Devils win 83-52 against No. 20 Louisville Monday connected on 9 of 12 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and had five assists for Duke (20-1, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which improved to 7-0 in true road games this season.
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Duke has won 31 of its last 32 games against ACC opponents.
Amani Hansberry led Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-5) with 20 points.
Duke never trailed and trailed by 13 points in the second half before the Hokies rallied. Desperate for a Quad 1 win in hopes of bolstering its NCAA Tournament hopes — the Hokies have just one all season — Virginia Tech cut Duke’s lead to 62-56 on a Jailen Bedford jumper with 6:10 left.
But Boozer answered for the Blue Devils, scoring the next seven points, the last three on a 3-pointer with 1:30 left that gave Duke a 69-56 lead and the Blue Devils pulled away.
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The ACC’s best defense (64.6 points per game) heading into the game, Duke held Virginia Tech to just two points in the final six minutes, forcing four turnovers and limiting the Hokies to 1 of 7 from the floor in that span.
Maliq Brown and Isaiah Evans each had 11 points for Duke, which shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59).
Bedford finished with 12 points for Virginia Tech and Ben Hammond had 11, but the Hokies shot just 41.8 percent (23 of 55) and made just 7 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Following
Duke hosts Boston College on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech plays at NC State on Saturday.
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