Duke guard Nolan Smith passed the ball to Ryan Kelly on the baseline Wednesday night, delivering an opportunity for a shot from in front of the Blue Devils' bench that could demoralize N.C. State.

Kelly never hesitated, firing in a 3-pointer to stretch Duke's lead to 11 points just 95 seconds after the Wolfpack had closed the deficit to five.

"It was a pretty big shot," said Kelly, who scored 11 points with eight rebounds in Duke's 92-78 win. "I'm glad that my teammates were confident in me to knock it down. I am confident in my own shot. ...That one went in, and it was a pretty big play."

Although Kelly isn't always relied upon for scoring, the Ravenscroft School graduate has provided stability for No. 4-ranked Duke (17-1, 4-1 ACC), which visits Wake Forest (7-12, 0-4) on Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN). A sophomore, Kelly has started 14 of the Blue Devils' 18 games.

The 6-foot-11 forward rarely misses an assignment or is caught out of position.

"He is just getting a little bit better all the time, and he is reliable," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said recently. "You know what Ryan Kelly is going to give you every game."

Duke counts on Kelly for defense, rebounding, an occasional jump shot and even a bit of intimidation in the lane. At 234 pounds, he has added 15 pounds to his lanky frame from last season and is the team's second-leading shot blocker with 1.4 per game.

"I have good timing," Kelly said. "A lot of people forget, the way I play, how big I am. I'm a pretty tall guy and have pretty long arms, and people kind of forget that."

Rigorous offseason training (and eating) helped Kelly improve his body. After playing only a modest role on last season's NCAA championship team, Kelly attended both summer sessions at Duke. He knew he needed to get stronger, but it wasn't going to be easy because of his naturally thin build.

His father Chris Kelly weighed only 170 pounds in his junior year of college as a 6-foot-7 forward for Yale.

"It's certainly helped to be able to hold my position better, and rebounding is one of the biggest things," Kelly said of last summer's training. "Also, just the strength and lateral quickness. All things I needed to get better at. It's certainly a giant leap from last year."

Kelly is averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game. That's a huge improvement for a player who totaled just five minutes over Duke's last five NCAA tournament games last season.

A National Merit Scholar semifinalist in high school, Kelly is smart enough to handle a multifaceted role that requires him to defend and rebound in the low post while drifting out to the perimeter on offense.

"He has been playing simple, really good basketball," Krzyzewski said. "He blocks shots, and you don't even know he is blocking shots. He understands every play. He is moving his feet very well defensively."

Krzyzewski expects Kelly to keep improving. His father expects the same thing. Chris Kelly watched Ryan get up early to work out at 6 a.m. at Ravenscroft throughout high school.

He said Ryan is just starting to understand how to compete in practice and in games and still is developing his skills. In high school, Chris Kelly said, Ryan rarely attempted a 3-pointer in a game.

Now he is expected to shoot from the perimeter when Duke's guards draw the defense in with their drives, as Smith did to set up Kelly's big shot against N.C. State. Kelly has made 11 3-pointers in 30 attempts. That's 36.7 percent, which isn't bad for a 6-11 shooter.