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MIAMI -- Duke junior Kyle Singler already had one black eye.
He certainly didn't want another.
Singler, sporting a shiner suffered in practice Monday, took a figurative blow Wednesday night when Miami ran out to a 12-point halftime lead.
But Singler made sure this one didn't leave a mark. He scored the Blue Devils' first nine points of the second half, and Duke erased its deficit within five minutes and eventually came away with an 81-74 victory at BankUnited Center.
"Every one of us felt like we weren't playing as hard as we could, and we just weren't being smart," said Singler, who scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. "We weren't playing defense. We needed to get back to that, and we played great in the second half."
What Singler started, his two partners in the Blue Devils' big three finished. Nolan Smith (21 points) and Jon Scheyer (15) combined to hit four consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch to seal the deal, scoring 33 points between them in the second half after scoring three between them in the first half on 1-of-13 shooting.
All told, the trio went from nine points in the first half to 49 in the second half.
"They played with a much different resolve in the second half," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was fuzzy on his halftime speech. "I don't even remember what I said -- nothing complimentary.
"I did tell them, 'It's up to you.' Nothing I said changed things around. What they did is what changed things around."
The No. 6 Blue Devils (22-4, 10-2 ACC) were outplayed in every way by the Hurricanes (17-9, 3-9) in the first half.
Duke couldn't -- or didn't -- handle Miami's zone defense in the opening half, shooting 31.3 percent and turning the ball over nine times. The Blue Devils also couldn't handle freshman guard Durand Scott -- who scored 11 of his 19 points in the first half, capped by a buzzer-beater for a 37-25 lead -- nor could they handle big man Dwayne Collins.
Collins, who scored 26 when Miami knocked off the Blue Devils two years ago in their most recent visit to south Florida, scored nine in the first half and kept attacking in the second half, finishing with 21 points thanks to 11-of-14 shooting from the free throw line.
Guard James Dews picked up where Scott left off, scoring 13 of his 16 in the second half, but Miami needed more to match Duke's three-headed monster.
"The first half, we did a great job on the big three," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "The second half, they just completely took over.
"Singler, at the beginning of the second half, really just took over the game."
Singler started the spirited second half with a 3-pointer -- Duke hit 13 of 29 on the night -- and didn't slow down until after he hit another shot from outside the arc at the 15:10 mark to cap a 17-4 start to the half for a 42-41 lead. Miami never would lead again.
Even with the offensive fireworks, Krzyzewski gave much of the credit to Duke's defensive fire. Miami shot 55.6 percent to Duke's 41.7, but both teams made 25 field goals. Miami attempted just 45 shots to 60 for Duke thanks to 22 turnovers.
"In the second half, I thought our defense, especially in the first eight or nine minutes, was sensational," Krzyzewski said. "It's a heck of a win for us, because Miami was unbelievably ready and totally outplayed us in the first half."
Near the 10-minute mark, Duke built its lead to 54-46, but the Hurricanes got going again and reeled off six quick points to pull within 54-52. Things remained tight heading to the final six minutes, but that's when Scheyer -- 1-of-12 to that point -- drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the advantage to 64-59.
Brian Zoubek, who recorded his second straight strong game with 10 points and a career-high five steals, hit a couple of free throws, and then Smith drilled consecutive 3-pointers to send Duke to the final two minutes with a nine-point lead.
"I think we showed a lot of heart," Scheyer said. "We got together [at halftime] and said, 'Hey, we know what we need to do. It's on us. We're not losing this game.' "
