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DURHAM (MCT) — After an excellent first half, Duke's Gerald Henderson was "bricking it," as he humbly described it, after halftime.

Fellow forward Kyle Singler, who'd been held to two first-half points, knew it was time to assert himself.

Singler scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half of a 72-65 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday at Cassell Coliseum, putting No. 7-ranked Duke in position to accomplish its improbable preseason goal.

"I was in foul trouble for most of the first half," Singler said, "and I knew I had to do something to get something productive for the team to win."

Despite rival North Carolina's status as the overwhelming preseason favorite in the ACC, the Blue Devils (24-5, 10-4 ACC) set a goal of finishing first in the conference standings.

With one week to play in the regular season, Duke can at least tie North Carolina with a win tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Florida State and a defeat of the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill on Sunday.

Thirteen days ago, that goal seemed almost unreachable. The Blue Devils had lost four of six and were two games in the loss column behind North Carolina after falling at Boston College.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski had proclaimed that the Tar Heels were better than Duke, but the Blue Devils never gave up hope.

"After we lost to Boston College (on Feb. 15), things were as low as it's been for a while for us," said guard Jon Scheyer. "The one thing we knew is, this league is tough. We can't worry about other teams. We can't worry about what they do. Let's just win."

Since then, Duke has won four straight, including three on the road. Virginia Tech (17-11, 7-7) raced back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie it at 58 with 5 minutes, 59 seconds remaining Saturday as A.D. Vassallo scored 21 of his 26 points after halftime.

Singler and Henderson put Duke ahead for good when both made both ends of one-and-one free throw opportunities. Henderson fed a cutting Singler for a layup and a 64-58 lead with 1:22 remaining.

Seventeen of Henderson's 21 points came in the first half, and he missed all seven of his second-half field goal attempts. Still, Duke adjusted with Singler and won.

The Blue Devils remain a game ahead of Florida State and Wake Forest in the ACC and one game behind their target -- North Carolina -- with a week to play.

"We knew it was going to be tough," Henderson said of staying in contention for the ACC. "We set ourselves up for that with the losses that we had. We're still keeping our eye on the prize. We set goals at the beginning of the year and that was one of our goals. We're still trying hard to attain that."