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DURHAM — Turns out, Duke can suffer through a ghastly perimeter shooting performance and still win by 20.

Who knew?

Nolan Smith scored 24 points on a collection of short jumpers and slashing drives to the basket, and big men Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek played key roles helping No. 8 Duke to a 79-59 victory over Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

Kyle Singler scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (14-2, 2-1 ACC), who shot a miserable 1-for-12 from 3-point range but cranked up its defense and broke open a close game in the second half.

Reggie Jackson scored 20 points for Boston College (10-7, 1-2), which had just two free throws and no field goals in the first 5:16 of the second half.

Duke, meanwhile, scored on eight of its first nine possessions after halftime for a 16-2 scoring run. The Blue Devils forced four turnovers and allowed the Eagles no second shots during the spurt.

Smith and Singler scored six points apiece in the run, and Duke took a commanding 17-point lead.

"We got points off turnovers," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. " ... We only hit one (3-pointer) today and still scored 79 points. Last year, we wouldn't have won a game like that. We'd have to hit 3s. I thought Miles and Brian, from the five position, if you added their totals up it would be a monster game."

The 7-foot-1 Zoubek and 6-10 Plumlee shared the center position and combined for 18 points and 16 rebounds.

Plumlee scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half to help Duke scratch out a 38-35 halftime lead. Zoubek scored all six of his points and grabbed eight of his 11 rebounds in the second half to help Duke pull away.

"In the past, when the 3 is not falling for us, that is usually when we trip up and lose a game," Plumlee said. "Shooting 1-for-12 from three, that's tough. But at the same time I think it's a great step for out team because now we know if the 3's not there, we have other options. I think that gives all of us a lot more confidence as a team."

It's confidence Duke needed. Last time out, the Blue Devils shot 6-for-28 from 3-point range in a 71-67 loss at Georgia Tech.

"It's really satisfying for the big guys, I'll tell you that," Zoubek said. "At Georgia Tech we relied a little bit too much on the guards, and obviously that's been our M.O. For us (big guys) to be able to establish ourselves a little more and help those guys out when they're not having that great of a game shooting from the 3-point line, it feels really good and hopefully we can continue to do that."

The Georgia Tech loss prompted Duke's student newspaper, The Chronicle, to call for Singler's benching.

That irked Krzyzewski.

"There were some suggestions in the student newspaper that we shouldn't start Kyle tonight," the coach said. "The first day back and we read in a student newspaper, and it's about benching our guy. Welcome back, I guess. Unbelievable."

In the end, Singler played and had a double-double. Jon Scheyer scored 12 points despite 1-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. Smith slashed his way to all those points.

And Duke's big men — especially Plumlee and Zoubek — turned the Blue Devils into something more than a perimeter shooting team.

NOTES: Duke came in shooting 40.7 percent from 3-point range. That ranked second in the ACC and 15th in the nation. But in its last two games, the Blue Devils are just 7-for-40 (17.5 percent). ... Scheyer leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.65-to-1). He had four assists and one turnover against Boston College.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

BOSTON COLLEGE (10-7) — Raji 1-3 0-0 2, Trapani 2-7 4-4 8, Southern 2-3 3-6 7, Paris 2-4 0-0 4, Sanders 1-8 1-3 3, Jackson 8-12 3-3 20, Roche 2-4 0-0 4, Ravenel 2-4 0-2 4, Elmore 1-3 4-6 6, Dunn 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 21-48 16-26 59.

DUKE (14-2) — Singler 5-9 5-7 15, Mi.Plumlee 5-6 2-2 12, Thomas 0-1 2-2 2, Smith 9-14 6-7 24, Scheyer 4-12 3-4 12, Ma.Plumlee 2-10 0-0 4, Dawkins 0-3 4-5 4, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Zoubek 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 28-60 22-27 79.

Halftime—Duke 38-35.
3-point goals—Boston College 1-10 (Jackson 1-2, Roche 0-1, Paris 0-1, Sanders 0-3, Trapani 0-3), Duke 1-12 (Scheyer 1-6, Smith 0-1, Ma.Plumlee 0-1, Dawkins 0-2, Singler 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Boston College 27 (Trapani 4), Duke 40 (Zoubek 11).
Assists—Boston College 7 (Sanders 3), Duke 11 (Scheyer, Smith 4).
Total fouls—Boston College 21, Duke 21.
Technical foul—Singler.
A—9,314.