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Rivers leads Duke over Virginia Tech

Feb 3, 2012 - 3:41 AM Blacksburg, VA (Sports Network) - Austin Rivers scored 18 points to lead the way for No. 5 Duke as it defeated Virginia Tech 75-60 at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday.

The Blue Devils (17-3, 5-1 ACC) got great efforts off the bench from Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry. Kelly had 15 points while Curry finished with 11 points for Duke, which won its third straight game and seventh in its last eight.

"Once we get going and our offense gets going and our defense plays at the same level as our offense, we're a good team," said the junior forward Kelly.

Virginia Tech (12-10, 1-6) was paced by Erick Green with 17 points and seven boards. Victor Davila finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Hokies, who have now lost three in a row and seven of their last eight.

The Hokies were able to keep it close early, holding the Blue Devils without a field goal for over four minutes in the first half as Virginia Tech trailed 11-10 with 12:25 to go in the stanza.

Duke then proceeded to rip off a 13-2 run, giving the Blue Devils a 34-23 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first.

Virginia Tech made its first three of the half with just two seconds left to pull the Hokies within 10, 38-28, going into the locker room.

Kelly's three-pointer capped an 11-2 Duke run as it pulled away from the Hokies, taking a 62-40 lead with 11:20 left in the contest.

"We had some guys miss some shots and that affected their ability to do anything on the other end, and you can't have that and beat a good team," Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said. "We did some good things, but when they kind of bowed their neck, I thought we melted."

The Hokies cut the lead to 15 late in the game, but Duke was able to hold on for the double-digit victory.

Game Notes

The game marked the 46th meeting between the two universities with Duke now leading the series 38-8...Virginia Tech shot 3-of-13 from beyond the arc while Duke made 8-of-18 from long range...Duke had 12 assists and seven turnovers and Virginia Tech had just 5 assists with 17 turnovers.