Duke 88, Virginia Tech 56
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Seth Curry scored 22 points in his final game at his parents' alma mater, leading No. 6 Duke to a 88-56 rout of slumping Virginia Tech on Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum.
Curry scored 19 points in the first half, helping the Blue Devils build a 20-point halftime lead in their first game since a two-point loss at Maryland last Saturday.
The Hokies (11-15, 2-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost their ninth straight game, continuing their longest losing streak since they lost 10 in a row in the 2001-02 season.
Curry knocked down five first-half 3-pointers and finished one 3-pointer shy of his season high, set in a win over Georgia Tech.
He hit the last one with 1:03 left in the half. Virginia Tech's Jarell Eddie blocked Curry's drive attempt, but Curry grabbed the offensive rebound before stepping back and nailing the 3-pointer. Afterward, Curry drew a technical foul for turning around and chirping at Eddie.
The Blue Devils (23-3, 10-3) expanded their lead to 31 points early in the second half and pushed the margin to 33 with 2:32 remaining.
Virginia Tech's Erick Green, the nation's leading scorer, scored 22 points to lead the Hokies. C.J. Barksdale added a career-high 14 points.
Rasheed Sulaimon finished with 17 points for the Blue Devils, who went 12 of 17 from 3-point range. Mason Plumlee added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Hairston scored 11.
The Hokies scored the game's first four points before the Blue Devils heated up. With his parents -- former Virginia Tech athletes Dell and Sonya Curry -- watching from two rows behind the Duke bench, Seth Curry knocked down two 3-pointers to jump-start an 11-0 Blue Devils run.
Green snapped a drought of more than four minutes with a transition layup, cutting Duke's lead to 11-6. Curry answered almost immediately with another 3. Duke took its first double-digit lead with 9:04 left in the half when Tyler Thornton drained a 3-pointer to put the Blue Devils up 22-12.
Duke extended its lead to 30-15 with 6:42 left when Plumlee slipped past Cadarian Raines on the baseline for a nifty up-and-under basket. Curry nailed another 3-pointer with 4:08 left in the half, pushing the Blue Devils' lead to 20. Duke rode 60 percent shooting from the field to a 48-28 halftime lead.
NOTES: Duke, which lost to Maryland last Saturday, has not lost back-to-back regular season games since the 2008-09 season. ... The Hokies' last win against a top-10 team came in February 2011, when they beat No. 1 Duke at Cassell Coliseum. ... Plumlee is one rebound shy of 1,000 for his career. ... Green was averaging 26.3 points in conference games entering Thursday, the highest total for an ACC player in conference games since Duke's J.J. Redick averaged 29.3 in 2005-06.
