Notre Dame vs. Duke: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Duke avenged a recent loss in a big way, earning a 90-60 home win over Notre Dame.

The Blue Devils seemingly couldn't miss in the first half and kept it up with great play in the second to pull away with a fantastic team effort. Freshmen Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow each had double-doubles and combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds.

Not to be overlooked, Tyus Jones provided 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win. Matt Jones also added 17 points off the bench, with 15 coming in the first half. 

On the other hand, there was little to like for the Fighting Irish, who struggled immensely. Steve Vasturia finished with a team high of 15 points, but he didn't get much help. This includes All-American candidate Jerian Grant, who scored just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated summed up the game with this tweet:

Notre Dame beat Duke 77-73 just 10 days ago thanks to some big plays by Grant late, but the Blue Devils still came into the game confident. Quinn Cook explained what his team needs to do to be successful, via Laura Keeley of the Charlotte Observer:

"

Finish. It’s a mindset. The attitude that you have. If you go up soft, you won’t finish. If you go up hard, which is something that we practice – we practice hard. Guys can finish, we’ve been doing it the past couple of games.

We left a lot of points on the board. If we finish and hit our free throws, we’ll be fine.

"

This time around, the team found a way to finish the shots early and easily came away with a dominant victory.

The first half went just about as well as Duke could've possibly imagined, as the basket seemed like the size of a pool. Rob Dauster of NBC Sports provided a look at the early success for the home team:

ESPN's Dana O'Neil notes the Blue Devils also showcased their great defense: 

As the onslaught continued, Duke built up a 43-13 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half. Jeff Borzello of ESPN was one of the many surprised by what he was seeing:

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today summed up the responses many likely had at this stage:

Matt Jones was the real star of the half, scoring a career high of 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting to help turn this into a rout. However, just about everyone was shooting well for Duke, according to Jerry Palm of CBS Sports:

Arguably the only thing that didn't go its way was a couple of quick fouls on Jahlil Okafor, which kept him out for much of the first half. Of course, one of them was a questionable call on a dominant play, as captured by Matt Norlander of CBS Sports:

A few big Notre Dame shots helped keep the score at 50-24 at intermission, although this was still the lowest total of the year for the Irish.

The Irish cut the lead down to 18 in the second half, but the dream of a comeback was short-lived as Duke continued to apply the pressure.

Okafor, who had a quiet first half, was dominant in the second with some plays that reminded people how good he is at such a young age:

"

Jahlil Okafor is a once-every-20-years type of player at the college level.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 7, 2015"

Even Grayson Allen got in on the action with some big plays at both ends of the court, including an impressive block, as noted by Keeley:

Dick Vitale gave his thoughts on Saturday's game:

By the time the clock hit zero, the Blue Devils were able to close out a 30-point victory to move to 20-3 on the year and 7-3 in the ACC. The Irish fell to 9-3 in the conference while remaining in good shape at 21-4 overall.

USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame will follow up with another road game against a surging Clemson team that has won four in a row. While this once seemed like it would be an easy game, the Irish better be prepared to avoid a bad loss.

Duke will have little chance to rest before going on the road to face Florida State Monday night. This will be the Blue Devils' only game against the Seminoles this season, so they should expect the team's best shot.

In both cases, these are must-win games for both Notre Dame and Duke to remain in the hunt for an ACC title.

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