Blue Devils riding strong 2nd halves

DURHAM, N.C. — No. 2 Duke is the best second-half team in the country.

Good thing, the Blue Devils have been getting off to sluggish starts.

That said, no team in Division I outscores its opponents by more in second halves than the Blue Devils. They average 11.6 points more than opponents after halftime. And they’re trending up — that margin jumped to 17 points during their last three games.

“We’re really good at making adjustments ingame,” co-captain Javin DeLaurier said. “I think that’s a testament, especially for the freshmen, (of ) being mature really early (in their careers). When coach tells us something or we’re not playing our best, we do a really good job of picking it up.”

Duke and No. 4 Gonzaga — at 11.5 points — are the only teams in the nation whose average second-half margin is in double figures. The Blue Devils have trailed at halftime in five games, but only once — in a 89-87 loss to those Bulldogs in the Maui Invitational final in November — has that deficit been larger than two points.

So clearly, Duke (20-2, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is finishing games strong, and now the Blue Devils hope to finish the regular season that way.

Their rematch with No. 3 Virginia (20-1, 8-1) on Saturday night — the Blues Devils won the first game 72-70 on Jan. 19 in Durham, N.C. — starts a challenging stretch run that includes two meetings with top-10 rival North Carolina plus four other road games against current Top 25 teams.

“It’s another big-time game for us,” DeLaurier said.

Part of the challenge for this freshman-dominated Duke team has been treating every opponent on the schedule like it’s one of those, big-time games from the opening tipoff.

During their last four games, the Blue Devils have trailed at halftime twice, with both coming at home against teams near the bottom of the ACC standings — Georgia Tech and Boston College. They rebounded to win both by double figures.