DURHAM, N.C. – Seth Curry scored a season-high 20 points in his return to Duke's starting lineup, leading the third-ranked Blue Devils past Boston College 84-68 on Thursday night.
Nolan Smith finished with 28 points while Kyle Singler had 14 for the Blue Devils (19-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). They shot 50 percent from the field, hit 10 3-pointers and used a huge Curry-led run early in the second half to claim their fourth straight win.
The expected duel between the ACC's top two scorers never materialized. Reggie Jackson, who entered second to Smith in the league scoring race, finished with a season-low seven points — 13 fewer than his average.
Corey Raji scored 18 points and Joe Trapani added 14 for BC (14-7, 4-3). The Eagles have lost two straight and four of seven overall, and fell to 0-6 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, each loss by double figures.
Ryan Kelly added 14 points for Duke, but his streak of consecutive shots made ended at 18 when he missed a follow-up early in the second half — his first miss in nearly two weeks, since the first half against Virginia.
On this night, Duke's hottest hand belonged to Curry.
The younger brother of Golden State star Stephen Curry sat out last season after transferring from Liberty. He made just his fifth start for the Blue Devils and his first since they were upset two weeks ago at Florida State.
It wound up being his best day in a Duke uniform. He finished 6 of 9 from the field, hit a season-best five 3-pointers and scored 11 points during the 26-9 burst that put the Blue Devils in command.
After Cortney Dunn's layup pulled BC to 43-38 with 17:53 left, Curry found his stroke. He bookended the decisive run with 3s, starting it by connecting from the right corner seconds later, and capping it by hitting from the right wing at the 10-minute mark to stretch the lead to 69-47.
Smith, who entered averaging 22.5 points and is bidding to become the first player in ACC history to lead the league in both scoring and assists, had eight assists while hitting the 20-point mark for the ACC-best 10th time this season. He helped the Blue Devils win their 31st straight at Cameron, a string that includes 14 ACC games.
Jackson couldn't come close to matching him. Held out of the starting lineup, Jackson went roughly 20 minutes between field goals, finished 3 of 11 from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
Biko Paris scored 11 points and Dallas Elmore matched a career high with 10 points for the Eagles.
(This version CORRECTS No. 3 Duke 84, Boston College 68. Corrects timing of Ryan Kelly's previous missed shot.)
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