Boozer, coming off a 19-point effort in the Blue Devils’ 83-52 win over No. 20 Louisville on Monday, went 9-for-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 actual 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 led by as many as 13 in the second half before the Hokies rallied. Desperately seeking 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 Jailen Bedford’s jumper 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 left that gave Duke a 69-56 lead and the Blue Devils pulled away.
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Duke, the ACC’s top scoring defense (64.6 points per game) entering the game, held Virginia Tech to just two points in the final six minutes, forcing four turnovers and limiting the Hokies to 1 of 7 field goals in that span.
Maliq Brown and Isaiah Evans each scored 11 points for Duke, which shot 52.5% (31 of 59).
Bedford finished with 12 points for Virginia Tech and Ben Hammond scored 11, but the Hokies shot just 41.8% (23 of 55) and were just 7 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Next
Duke hosts Boston College on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech plays at NC State on Saturday.
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