Duke Basketball: Biggest Takeaways from ACC Clash with Notre Dame

Duke has had its reputation battered a few times this season, first with back-to-back surprise losses and then in a hard-fought defeat late last month at Notre Dame. But now, following a throughout destruction of that same Notre Dame team on Saturday, the Blue Devils are again looking like one of the best teams in the country.

A new shine emanates from Duke's status following the 90-60 win over Notre Dame, improving it to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in the ACC. The Blue Devils head into the final four weeks of play in a tie for fourth place but only 1.5 games behind conference leader Virginia—whom they beat on Jan. 31—with eight games remaining.

From a team standpoint, the convincing victory helped with Duke's outward appearance. But we could glean far more from this big win. Click through to see what else can be taken from the 30-point triumph over the Fighting Irish.

Freshmen Enjoy Revenge

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Of the three teams that Duke has lost to, only Notre Dame provided an opportunity during the regular season to avenge that defeat. The Blue Devils won't meet Miami (Florida) or North Carolina State again unless they meet in the ACC tournament next month.

Given that chance to seek revenge, and to do so just 10 days after the Jan. 28 loss, Duke did not squander the chance. The 90-60 win actually helped make up for consecutive losses to the Fighting Irish, including in January 2013.

Duke's freshmen weren't a part of the first of those losses, but because of the sting from the latter matchup, they still had plenty of incentive to seek vengeance. And they did so heartily.

The Devils' four first-year players combined to score 56 points, collect 28 rebounds, records 12 assists and block four shots. That included a strong five-point, two-rebound, one-assist, one-block effort from reserve Grayson Allen, who played 16 minutes in his most action since logging 18 minutes in his collegiate debut in November.

Duke has two more opponents on the schedule in the regular season that it will face twice, North Carolina and Syracuse. If it were to drop the first half of either of those home-and-home series, expect Duke's freshmen to take those losses personally and come out with a vengeance next time out.

Jahlil Okafor's Game Is NBA-Ready

It's a foregone conclusion that Jahlil Okafor is only going to spend this lone season in college and that he's very likely to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in June. This isn't just because the 6'11" freshman center has shown so much potential and upside in his brief time with Duke, but also because he continues to show moves that indicate he could play in the pros right now.

The above move—somehow called an offensive foul—was one of many plays that Okafor made against Notre Dame that highlighted his NBA-level skill set. He finished with 20 points (on 9-of-11 shooting), 10 rebounds, two steals and one block for his eighth double-double and his 23rd double-digit scoring output in as many college games.

Only Virginia, which had a strong game plan of doubling him quickly, has showed even a semblance of slowing him down. Yet Okafor still had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Enjoy him while he lasts, college basketball fans. He only has 10 to 17 games left with us, and though we can expect opponents to pull out all the stops to limit his touches and involvement, that's likely to prove fruitless.

The Matt Jones Revival Tour Continues

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

There was no way anyone could have predicted the impact that dismissing a player from Duke's already thin roster of backups would have. Certainly no one expected what's come of the bench since the Blue Devils dismissed junior Rasheed Sulaimon from the program on Jan. 29.

Since Sulaimon was sent packing for violation of team rules, the first scholarship player ever kicked off by coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke has gotten a far greater level of contribution from its reserves. And much of that has been due to one person: sophomore guard Matt Jones.

Jones scored a career-high 17 points in 27 minutes against Notre Dame, making six of nine shots that included three three-pointers. And his numbers weren't padded by garbage time, as Jones had 15 in the first half including 10 during the Devils' massive 43-7 run that blew the game open after they fell behind 6-0.

Since Sulaimon's dismissal, Jones has seen his minutes soar. He had been playing 17 per game but over the last three has averaged 24.3, and he's had 37 points in those games after dropping in 94 in the first 20 contests of the season.

Jones' surge bodes well for the stretch run, as he can help spell Quinn Cook at the 2 and Justise Winslow at the 3 and help keep them fresh while not leading to a drop-off in on-court quality.

Justise Winslow Can Play Through Pain

Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Rib and shoulder injuries, not to mention the rise in competition that comes with going from high school to college, have led freshman forward Justise Winslow to battle consistency and shooting issues at various times throughout the season.

He's learning to fight through all of that, and on Saturday he also figured out that pushing his way through defenders will help with that effort.

"For some reason, it just finally hit me that I can get in the paint at will, pretty much," Winslow told Sporting News' Ryan Fagan. "So that's what I’ve been trying to do lately, whether that's getting in there and scoring or getting in there and hitting Jah (Okafor) or Amile (Jefferson) or kicking out to our three-point shooters."

On Saturday, that style led to 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. It also kept him from falling back on his default approach, which usually meant hovering around the perimeter and often settling for jump shots.

Winslow only attempted two threes, making one, after coming in at 26-of-72 from outside.

With Quinn Cook and others already showing a solid perimeter shooting touch, Winslow's contributions aren't needed as much out there. He serves better as an extra option going toward the basket, either to create on his own or draw defenders away from Jahlil Okafor.

Defense Can Be Done

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Notre Dame is the second-best shooting team in the country, making 51.5 percent of its shots this season. That rate was higher before Saturday, when the Fighting Irish were held under 40 percent for just the second time in 2014-15.

Believe it or not, Duke can play defense from time to time, and one of those occasions came against the hot-shooting Irish. That same club made 51.8 percent of its shots when it beat Duke in South Bend two weeks ago, and in most games this year the Irish have made more than they missed.

Last weekend, Duke held Virginia (which shoots 46.6 percent) to 41.3 percent while only hitting 3-of-13 from three-point range.

All told, the Blue Devils allow 64.4 points per game and 42.7 percent shooting. Both of those rank in the top 100, nationally, but after getting torched in those three losses between Jan. 11-28, there's been a much better emphasis on trying to make stops.

If Duke can defend like that on a consistent basis, combined with its ability to score against anyone, it will be hard to stop this team.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.