Seniors Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee lead No. 2 Duke to 88-50 rout of Delaware

DURHAM, N.C. – Ryan Kelly scored 15 of his 18 points in the decisive first half and No. 2 Duke routed Delaware 88-50 on Saturday.

Mason Plumlee added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (8-0). They never trailed, shot 52 percent, led by 46 and enjoyed a rare breather after a challenging run of games against nationally ranked opponents.

Seth Curry, the other scholarship senior on the roster, missed the first game of his career at Duke with an injured ankle. Against the struggling Blue Hens (2-6), the Blue Devils certainly didn't need him.

Devon Saddler had 23 points for Delaware, which was beaten soundly by the highest ranked opponent it had ever faced.

Rasheed Sulaimon scored 14 points, fellow freshman Amile Jefferson had 12 and redshirt freshman Alex Murphy finished with 10 for the Blue Devils.

They announced about an hour before the game that Curry wouldn't dress because he injured his left ankle on Wednesday night in the second half of the win over No. 4 Ohio State, ending a streak of 78 consecutive games for the senior sharpshooter. The last time the Blue Devils played without Curry, they won a national championship — beating Butler in the 2010 title game while he sat out as a transfer from Liberty.

That tense 73-68 win over the Buckeyes was Duke's second straight victory against a top-five opponent and its third of the season, along with wins over then-No. 3 Kentucky and then-No. 2 Louisville, making the Blue Devils the first team since 2001 Ball State to beat consecutive top-five foes.

This one wasn't nearly as stressful for the Blue Devils, who extended their NCAA-best winning home streak against non-conference opponents to 98 and improved to 24-0 under Mike Krzyzewski against CAA teams.

Duke reeled off 15 straight points early while forcing Delaware to miss 11 consecutive shots, went up by double figures to stay before the first time out and spent the rest of the first half methodically growing its lead.

Kelly capped a 25-7 spurt with a baseline drive with 7½ minutes before the break that gave Duke its first 20-point lead at 29-9, and his 3-pointer with about 40 seconds left in the half made it 42-16.

The Blue Hens entered this season winless against current Atlantic Coast Conference teams since 1962 before beating Virginia on Nov. 13 to reach the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off — and they haven't won a game against anyone since.