By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Duke senior Jon Scheyer said the return of fellow guard Nolan Smith took some pressure off.

Try telling that to the Charlotte 49ers.

Smith returned with a vengeance after his two-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned summer event. The junior scored a career-high 24 points and made it difficult for Charlotte to score, as the Blue Devils rolled to a 101-59 victory in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"My motor was ready," said Smith, who scored eight of Duke's first 14 points. "I started the game with a turnover, and I looked over to Coach, and he was like, 'Calm down.'

"I've been sitting on the bench, very anxious to get out there. Once I calmed down, I was ready to go."

With the victory, the No. 9 Blue Devils (3-0) advanced to the semifinals of the event at Madison Square Garden in New York. Duke will face the winner of Tuesday's late game between Arizona State and Texas Christian next Wednesday, but before that the Blue Devils will host Radford on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Smith made as big an impact on defense as he did on offense. Smith took Charlotte point guard DiJuan Harris, who ranked fourth in the nation last season with 7.2 assists per game, out of his comfort zone, limiting him to two assists and three points.

Boston College transfer Shamari Spears paced the 49ers with 20 points, but none of his teammates managed more than six points as Charlotte shot 33.9 percent.

"I was most impressed with our defense tonight," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Our defense set the tone. We didn't give up fastbreaks.

"Harris is really a good guard, but Lance [Thomas] and Ryan Kelly did a good job of helping Nolan just make them a halfcourt team."

Smith had plenty of help Tuesday, especially from Scheyer and Kyle Singler on the perimeter but also from a couple of post players. Scheyer scored 20 points and avoided even a single turnover for the third consecutive game to start the season, and Singler added 17.

The trio totaled 61 points -- two more than Charlotte (2-1) managed as a team.

In the paint against a fairly tall 49ers team, Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek combined for 24 points and 24 rebounds. Plumlee doubled the biggest outputs he had as a freshman, setting new standards with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

"I have worked real hard during the summer and every day in practice, so it is starting to pay off," Plumlee said. "I tried to be aggressive and confident out on the floor."

The Blue Devils were the aggressors from the opening tip.

At the first television timeout, Duke led 17-4 and had seven field goals and one turnover, while Charlotte had seven turnovers and one field goal. Smith already had eight points by then, scoring on two strong drives to the basket and off a pair of offensive rebounds to earn a "Nolan's winning" chant from the crowd.

Charlotte pulled within 24-14, but then Duke really took off. The Devils scored on nine of their next 10 possessions, hitting eight straight shots, to increase move ahead 46-22. The run included four 3-pointers on a night when Duke hit 12 of 21 as a team.

At the third television timeout, which came after Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz already had taken three timeouts, Duke had made more field goals (19) than the 49ers had attempted (17).

"We played well tonight, on both ends of the floor," Krzyzewski said. "We beat a good team pretty soundly."