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 win.
Boozer, coming off a 19-point effort in the Blue Devils’ 83-52 victory over No. 20 Louisville on 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 moved to 7-0 in true road games this season.
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Duke has won 31 of its past 32 games against ACC opponents.
Amani Hansberry paced Virginia Tech (16-7, 5-5) with 20 points.
Duke never trailed and led by as many as 13 in the second half before the Hokies rallied. Desperately seeking a Quad 1 victory in hopes of bolstering its NCAA Tournament hopes — the Hokies have just one all season — Virginia Tech cut the Duke lead to 62-56 on a jumper by Jailen Bedford with 6:10 remaining.
But Boozer answered for the Blue Devils, scoring the next seven points, the last three on a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining that gave Duke a 69-56 lead and the Blue Devils pulled away.
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The ACC’s best scoring defense (64.6 ppg) coming 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% (31 of 59).
Bedford finished with 12 points for Virginia Tech, and Ben Hammond had 11, but the Hokies shot just 41.8% (23 of 55) and made just 7 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Up next
Duke hosts Boston College on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech plays at N.C. State on Saturday.
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