BLACKSBURG, Va. _ No. 10 Duke opted for small ball in the second half to find a way to win at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum.
After Virginia Tech opened a seven-point lead just after halftime, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski used all guards for most of the second half and the Blue Devils turned things around to beat the Hokies 77-63 on Friday night.
With Virginia Tech racking up points inside, Krzyzewski removed 6-10 center Vernon Carey and kept 6-9 fresheman forward Matthew Hurt and 6-10 senior forward Javin DeLaurier on the bench.
Point guard Tre Jones found himself on the court with junior guard Jordan Goldwire, sophomore small forward Joey Baker, freshman guard Wendell Moore and senior small forward Jack White. Junior guard Alex O'Connell saw spot duty as well.
That group held Virginia Tech (6-3, 1-1 ACC) to just one basket during a nine-possession stretch. That allowed Duke (9-1, 1-0 ACC), which had trailed 45-38, to move ahead 50-47 on two Jones free throws with 12:37 left.
The Hokies took their final lead with 11:11 to play when P.J. Horne hit a 3-pointer to put Virginia Tech up 52-50. But Carey returned to hit two free throws and Jones' jumper with 10:13 to play gave Duke the lead for good at 54-52.
A 17-5 Blue Devils run from there allowed them to open up a 71-57 lead on an O'Connell 3-pointer.
Virginia Tech led by as many as 12 points in the first half before taking a 41-38 lead at halftime.
Jones led Duke with 15 points while Carey and Moore had 12 points each. Goldwire scored 10.
