Duke senior guard Nolan Smith said Sunday night he wasn't concerned that it had taken the Blue Devils a long time to develop a third scoring option since Kyrie Irving was sidelined by a Dec. 4 toe injury.

"Not at all," Smith said. "I want them to keep searching.

"Because [opponents who are] scouting, they might not know whose night it's going to be."

Smith said No. 5-ranked Duke (23-2, 10-1 ACC) might be more difficult to guard because of the unpredictability among its younger players trying to support top scorers Smith and Kyle Singler. Tonight, Virginia (12-12, 3-7) will be the next opponent to test the Blue Devils (7 p.m., ESPN2).

But Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski has been craving the No. 3 option on the perimeter, from where Seth Curry provided Duke with 22 points on Feb. 9 against North Carolina and 16 points Sunday at Miami.

"The third perimeter guy I thought was key," Krzyzewski said, "not to be like Kyrie, but where you can count on him for double-figure points. That's where Seth [has helped]."

Since Irving's injury sidelined him indefinitely, Duke has not been able to develop a player to consistently complement the scoring of seniors Smith and Singler:

Andre Dawkins posted 10 or more points five times in six games from Dec. 4 to Jan. 2 but has slumped since.

Ryan Kelly's streak of three straight games of 11 points or more ended in late January. He totaled 11 points over his next four games.

Curry scored at least 10 points in three straight games in December, against mediocre opponents, and then tailed off.

But now Curry, a sophomore guard, appears to be emerging again as a third scorer on the perimeter. Beginning with a 20-point effort on Jan. 29 against Boston College, Curry has averaged 13.7 points over six games.

"It's come from a lot of work, extra shots after practice, stuff like that," Curry said. "As long as I'm continuing to get my work in and continuing to be confident and seeing the ball go through the hoop, it helps, every game."

Smith (21.4 ppg) and Singler (17.5.ppg) are combining to score almost 39 points a game and are one of the most productive tandems in the nation. Only Adrian Oliver and Justin Graham (San Jose State, 40.1 ppg) and Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery (Brigham Young, 40.0 ppg) are averaging more as a duo, according to Duke.

But it's rare for Duke not to have a third scorer averaging more than 10 points per game over the course of an entire season. That has happened just once since 1982-83. J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams combined for 45.6 points per game in 2005-06, when No. 3 scorer Josh McRoberts averaged just 8.7.

This season, Dawkins' numbers have declined rapidly since early January, and he is down to 9.3 points per game. But Curry's average has risen from 7.6 points on Jan. 23 to 9.1 today.

Another player, sophomore center Mason Plumlee, has become more active on offense as well. He has scored at least 12 points in three of the past four games and has become more of a scoring threat on pick-and-roll plays.

But Krzyzewski considers his post players a separate entity from the guards when it comes to scoring.

"I think our big guys are doing a really good job right now in the system we're running," Krzyzewski said. "They're getting better.

"It was that third perimeter spot that we felt could make us maybe make a little more of a jump in becoming a really good team."

The goal now is for Curry to keep giving Duke that extra scoring after a couple months of starts and stops for the cast that is supporting Smith and Singler.