NEW YORK - After reeling from their second straight loss, the No. 9 Blue Devils needed to pull themselves out of their slump. They needed their shots to fall and their defense to return to its once-intimidating form.
And although its 76-69 win over St. John's in Madison Square Garden Thursday was far from perfect, Duke (21-5) got the win it desperately needed.
"This has been a tough time for us, these last couple of weeks," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "What the ACC and the Big East does to its members is beat the hell out of them with the competition. We got knocked back a little bit, and we're trying to right the ship and trying to get better."
Even though the Blue Devils walked away with the win, Duke nearly faltered at end of the contest with a minute remaining. After cruising with a sizable 15-point lead, the Red Storm (12-14) went on a late-game surge to cut the lead to single digits. For a moment, the Blue Devils looked as if they might leave the door open to an upset.
But the Blue Devils made 5-of-10 shots from the charity stripe to hold off the Red Storm.
Although the Blue Devils had a short break from conference play, St. John's, a team sitting in 13th in the Big East, was not about to roll over for Duke.
Duke shot 53.5 percent from the field, the team's best performance in 14 games. Playing in a slugfest with the Red Storm, the Blue Devils battled their way inside, going to the charity stripe 33 times-17 times more than St. John's.
Juniors Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson led the team in scoring, thanks largely to drawing fouls and getting to the line. Despite going 4-for-12 from the floor, Henderson hit 11-of-13 free throws, giving him 19 points for the night. Scheyer added 18, with 10 coming from the charity stripe.
The Blue Devils also regained their touch from downtown, hitting 7-of-15 treys. Forward Kyle Singler, in particular, excelled behind the arc, missing only one of his five attempts.
Freshman Elliot Williams was the catalyst for Duke in the first half, going perfect from the field for nine points over that period. Freshman Miles Plumlee also took advantage of his minutes, notching two blocks and a timely rebound in the waning minutes of the game.
Defense, which had been one of Duke's many woes in its recent slip in conference play, was an issue, at times, for the Blue Devils. After giving up 101 and 80 points, respectively, in its last two contests, Duke showed signs of improvement, holding St. John's to 69 points. But the Duke defense struggled to contain St. John's standout D.J. Kennedy, who led all scorers with 20 points.
"We stopped playing with an edge on defense, and I think that can happen when you win and you lose just a little," Krzyzewski said. "It doesn't take much. We just have to find that edge defensively. I thought tonight we got closer to it."
Duke may not be the best team in the country, but its win Thursday could be the first step the Blue Devils take forward after falling two steps back.
"We found out two things today, which were good," Krzyzewski said in reference to Williams and Plumlee's play. "We've got to get the other guys playing at the level we know we can play at. But this was definitely a step in the right direction."
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