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Singler, Duke stymie Georgia Tech

Jan 15, 2009 - 4:58 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Another stellar defensive performance by Duke made up for an off night on the other end of the floor.

Kyle Singler collected 19 points and 14 rebounds and Gerald Henderson scored 19 as the second-ranked Blue Devils captured their seventh straight victory, a 70-56 triumph over Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Jon Scheyer added 14 points on just 3-of-13 shooting as the Blue Devils shot 39 percent (23-of-59) from the field and just 8-of-24 from beyond the arc.

But Duke (15-1, 3-0 ACC) was its usual stingy self on defense to remain perfect in conference play. It has allowed an average of 52.7 points in its three ACC wins and held the Yellow Jackets to just 28 points in each half in this one.

"We played very well, defensively, in the second half," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought we played the last 10 minutes of the first half well defensively but they kind of knocked us back and we didn't do what we wanted to do on the top ball screen."

Scheyer scored nine points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Henderson had seven during a 19-9 run that turned a five-point lead into a 15-point bulge with 2:20 left to play, putting the game away for Duke.

Henderson converted 7-of-14 field-goal attempts and added seven rebounds and three assists while Scheyer continued to struggle from the field. The junior scored nine points on 1-of-7 from the field in Duke's last game, a win over Florida State.

"They are a very big team," Krzyzewski said. "Kyle (Singler) came up with some huge plays for us, especially on the defensive boards. And then G (Henderson) had a really good second half offensively. Both teams had trouble scoring because we are both pretty good defensive teams."

Georgia Tech (9-7, 0-3) used its size advantage inside to jump out to an early lead, and a layup by Zachery Peacock gave the Yellow Jackets a 23-15 lead.

However, after trailing for much of the opening half, the Blue Devils responded with a 13-0 spurt late in the opening 20 minutes to turn the eight-point deficit into a 30-25 lead. Georgia Tech was held without a field goal for nearly 6 1/2 minutes, allowing Duke to take a 31-28 edge into halftime.

"We rushed it too much on the offensive side," said Georgia Tech sophomore Gani Lawal, who grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. "Our game plan coming in was to really pound it inside and I feel we really rushed it and didn't exploit the mismatches we had."

The Yellow Jackets continued their struggles from the free-throw line, making just 7-of-19 from the charity stripe. They entered the game connecting on just 59 percent of their attempts.

"Their defense was obviously very, very good," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "We did have some very good looks. There were some mismatches that enabled us to take the lead in the first half, but we got a little impatient and did not take advantage of them in the second half."

Peacock led the way with 13 points while Maurice Miller and Iman Shumpert added nine each for the Yellow Jackets.