DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - RJ Barrett had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 2 Duke pulled away to beat Georgia Tech 66-53 on Saturday in point guard Tre Jones' return to the lineup.
Zion Williamson added 22 points to help the Blue Devils (17-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their third straight and 12th in a row in the series with Georgia Tech.
Duke finished a season-worst 2 of 21 from 3-point range but hit 52 percent from the field in the second half to win its lowest-scoring game of the year.
Abdoulaye Gueye had 14 points and Michael Devoe added 11 for the Yellow Jackets (11-9, 3-4), who have lost four of six but threw a scare into Duke for most of the day. Georgia Tech led 38-31 when Gueye banked in a jumper with just under 16 minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils countered with a 21-4 burst keyed by eight straight points from Barrett and capped by a layup from Williamson that made it 52-42 with just under eight minutes remaining.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets' tricky zone defense frustrated the ACC's highest-scoring offense, holding Duke to a season-low 27 first-half points and building an eight-point lead early in the second half. It was precisely the kind of gum-it-up game they wanted, but they couldn't keep Duke contained over the final 15 minutes.
Duke: Three-point shooting has to be a concern for the Blue Devils, who entered ranked 13th in the ACC and hit 31 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. This was the second time in eight days that Duke shot in the teens - or worse - from 3-point range, hitting just 14.3 percent in the victory over Virginia before this 9.5 percent performance.
UP NEXT
Georgia Tech: Plays host to No. 11 North Carolina on Tuesday night.
Duke: Visits Notre Dame on Monday night.
