Durham, NC (My Sportsbook) - Nolan Smith totaled a career-best 24 points and dished five assists in his first game of the season, as ninth-ranked Duke rolled to a 101-59 defeat of Charlotte in second-round action of the NIT Season Tip-Off from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Smith finished serving a two-game suspension Monday for playing in a summer league that wasn't sanctioned by the NCAA.
"I've been anxious to get back out there. I was ready to make plays. Coming back, we were all energized. Kyle [Singler] and Jon [Scheyer] were telling me how happy they were to have me back. I wanted to play well and feed off of them," said Smith.
Jon Scheyer ended with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Blue Devils (3-0), whose average margin of victory this season is nearly 34 points.
Kyle Singler scored 17 and Miles Plumlee 15 with 11 rebounds. Brian Zoubek brought down a game-high 13 boards and added nine points to the win.
Duke next hosts Radford Saturday before heading to Madison Square Garden for the semifinal round where they will play Arizona State. With the win, Duke improved to 20-2 all-time in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
"We played very well tonight on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense set the tone for the whole game in that we didn't give up fast breaks," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Shamari Spears paced the visitors with 20 points as the 49ers (2-1) were plagued by poor shooting (33.9 percent) and a penchant for turnovers (17).
Chris Braswell was the next highest scorer for Charlotte with six points.
"Obviously Duke was very impressive tonight. We're not happy with the way we played, but they really imposed their will upon us tonight from the start," said Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz.
Duke opened up an early 20-6 lead as a three-pointer from Scheyer dropped through less than five minutes in. A steal by Scheyer led to another three from the senior with the hosts up 20, 35-15, midway through the first half.
After Spears hit a jumper with 7 1/2 minutes to go, the Blue Devils finished out the half on a 13-5 run and led by 30, 57-27, at the break.
Duke kept pouring it on early in the second half as a Plumlee dunk, layup from Singler and a Scheyer three-ball had the hosts ahead 71-32 less than five minutes in.
"They're really good basketball players. I love our team, but our perimeter, these guys are like brothers," Krzyzewski remarked of the trio of Singler, Smith and Scheyer. "They know the game. They don't care who gets the shots."
Approaching the final 10 minutes, Olek Czyz drained a three to put Duke up 37 points, 78-41, and the hosts easily played out the win from there.
Game Notes
Duke shot 52.9 percent from the field and was true on 12-of-21 three-point attempts (57.1 percent)...Smith also had five rebounds in the win...Charlotte also hoisted 21 three-pointers, but made just five...Braswell also had nine rebounds in the 49ers' loss...Duke extended its NCAA-leading home win streak against non-conference opponents to 71 games. It is the second longest streak in school history (95 from Feb. 2, 1983 to Nov. 29, 1995)....The Blue Devils are 101-2 in contests where they 100-point mark under coach K.
