No. 3 Duke moves on to next game against Stetson

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke cleared the first hurdle after a loss with relative ease and now it looks more like business as usual for the third-ranked Blue Devils.

Duke didn't allow the setback to Gonzaga to fester and now it takes aim at visiting Stetson on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"We were ready to get back on the court," freshman forward Zion Williamson said. "We know what we can do. It's a long season. We know it's going to be a hard season, so you can't just stay on one game. You've got to move on to the next game."

Duke drubbed visiting Indiana 90-69 on Tuesday night.

"We definitely wanted to make a statement," Duke forward Jack White said. "Especially coming back to our home floor, we knew the (Cameron) Crazies would be amped up and behind us, so we just tried to feed off that, feed off all the energy and motivation."

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the solid bounce-back performance came despite some free-throw shooting woes and stagnant stretches of the second half. So he's encouraged because of the possibilities beyond the romp past Indiana.

"We'll try to keep getting better," he said. "We scored 90 points and left so many points on the floor."

Defense is something that Krzyzewski said the Blue Devils (6-1) will continue to stress.

"If we can limit the one or two best players on the other team, that has got to be our goal," he said. "We've got to keep doing that because every team has got one or two guys that care maybe a little bit better than others. We have to make it harder on them."

For Duke, freshmen RJ Barrett (22.7 points per game) and Zion Williamson (21.3) enter the game against Stetson as the Atlantic Coast Conference's two leading scorers.

Lapses in the first half against Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational final proved costly and so the Blue Devils are learning about the importance of turning in solid 40 minutes of play.

"That's something that we've got to keep working on, just being able to play that hard all game," Barrett said.

The Hatters (1-7) have lost seven games in a row, but the past four have been by 10 points or less. That includes Wednesday night's 75-71 setback at South Florida.

"That was our best performance of the year," Stetson coach Corey Williams said. "We just needed a few plays here and there."

Williams said the focus has to be on making improvements.

"We got better (in the last game)," he said. "I told the guys that we can win every game we play and lose the last one and not go to the NCAA Tournament, which is our ultimate goal. These guys have to get better."

It's a homecoming for Stetson junior guard Jahlil Rawley, who's from Durham and attended Kestrel Heights. He has been a starter in five games this season.

Duke leads the series 9-2, but the teams haven't faced off since Feb. 12, 1990, when Duke won 102-67 in Orlando, Fla. That was the last of 10 meetings across an 11-season stretch.

Krzyzewski's first coaching victory with Duke came in November 1980 against Stetson.