DURHAM, N.C. – Miami tried guarding J.J. Redick with a variety of defenses – box-and-one, man-to-man, straight zone.

In the end, the only way to stop him was to make sure he wasn’t on the court. The Hurricanes accomplished that by turning in their worst effort of the season, allowing Duke to get so far ahead that even the Atlantic Coast Conference’s iron man got to take a break.

Redick scored 29 points, nearly matching Miami point-for-point into the second half, and Daniel Ewing had the first double-double of his career to help the sixth-ranked Blue Devils beat Miami 83-59 last night. “I wanted to come out aggressive,” Redick said. “I’m a better player when I do that.”

The margin of defeat was the worst of the season for the Hurricanes, topping a 20-point loss at North Carolina. Ewing, a senior, finished with 14 points and a career high 10 assists in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Shelden Williams added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (22-4, 11-4 ACC).They will finish the regular season Sunday at no. 2 North Carolina, a rematch of Duke’s 71-70 win earlier this season.

Robert Hite scored 17 for the Hurricanes (16-11, 7-9), who likely need to advance a couple of rounds in the ACC tournament to secure a bid to the NCAAs.

“I would hope that we would not be intimidated or in awe, but obviously, something caused us to not want to execute,” Miami coach Frank Haith said. “There’s something that made that happen.”

Redick showed off his new hairstyle – he and walk-on Patrick Davidson got matching buzz cuts – then made his first two shots on his way to 18 points in the first half. Redick had personal leads on the Hurricanes at 3-2, 6-4, 9-8, 11-8, 14-11 and 16-14, but a late dry spell for the ACC’s leading scorer dropped him four points behind at the break. Early in the second half, Redick moved within a point of Miami once again.