Duke 86, Georgia Tech 67

DURHAM - Duke junior forward Kyle Singler released the shot and held his right wrist steady on the follow-through, savoring what was about to happen.

Sure enough, the shot swished through the net early in the second half for one of Singler’s eight 3-pointers in 10th-ranked Duke’s 86-67 defeat of No. 21 Georgia Tech on Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Setting career highs for 3-pointers and points (he scored 30) would have felt good anytime for Singler. But doing it against the Yellow Jackets was especially sweet.

On Jan. 9, Singler shot 2-for-13 from the field in a 71-67 loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

A day after that game, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said the Yellow Jackets had been fortunate against Singler.

“I thought Kyle had some great looks, he just didn’t make them,” Hewitt said Jan. 10. “Let’s put it this way, when we play them again at Cameron, if he has the same kind of looks, I don’t think we’ll be as lucky.”

Being right about that wasn’t much consolation for Hewitt as Singler played one of his best games of the season. Named preseason ACC player of the year, Singler hasn’t quite lived up to that billing.

He entered the game shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the 3-point arc, significantly short of his percentages from his sophomore season. He still was averaging 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds before Thursday, but isn’t a favorite even to make first-team All-ACC.

On Thursday night, you never would have known he has struggled. He shot 8-for-10 from 3-point range as Duke made 12 3-pointers as a team. Jon Scheyer added 21 points as the Blue Devils overcame a miserable performance in an 89-77 loss Saturday at Georgetown.

Duke (18-4, 6-2 ACC) moved a half-game ahead of Virginia (14-6, 5-2) into sole possession of first place in the ACC. Maryland needed a win in a 9 p.m. game at Florida State on Thursday night to tie Virginia for second place with a 5-2 ACC record. Duke took advantage of the first-half foul woes of Georgia Tech (16-6, 4-4) to build a double-digit halftime lead.

Center Gani Lawal, who’d scored 21 points on 8-for-9 from the field in a 71-67 Yellow Jacket win on Jan. 9 in Atlanta, fouled twice in the opening 33 seconds and played just six minutes in the first half.

Forward Derrick Favors, the leading candidate for ACC rookie of the year, also played six first-half minutes after being called for his third foul with 6:55 elapsed. Without them, Georgia Tech’s offense sputtered.

Zachery Peacock scored the Yellow Jackets’ first 11 points as they led early, but Duke took over the game with its perimeter shooting. Scheyer and Singler both made two first-half 3-pointers as the Blue Devils shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half.

Freshman forward Mason Plumlee made a 3-pointer followed by a driving, two-handed dunk as the Blue Devils started to pull away. With Duke holding for the last shot of the first half, Scheyer passed across the baseline to Singler, who sank a 3-pointer from the corner with one second remaining in the half.

Scheyer jumped and pumped his fist as the Blue Devils hustled to the locker room with a 45-33 lead. Singler made two 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the second half, then stretched Duke’s lead to 63-43 with a steal and behind-the-back pass to Nolan Smith for a fast-break basket on a Georgia Tech goaltending call.