Duke rolls past Notre Dame in ACC quarterfinal

Duke is beginning to have a championship look once again. The indicators are there.

The Blue Devils look like the more talented team on any court right now. Their defense is rising to the considerable level of their offense. And they’ve left the big dip in their season behind — three losses in a four-game stretch — to win seven of eight.

Witness Thursday night at the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Notre Dame, with senior star Bonzi Colson back for a fourth game after missing eight weeks, was playing as crisply as it has in more than a month and still it had no shot. Second-seeded and fifth-ranked Duke started hot to build a big early lead, nearly let the Fighting Irish back into the game before halftime and absolutely annihilated them in the second half for an 88-70 win before 17,732 at Barclays Center.

For the second straight year, college basketball’s best rivalry will be played in New York when Duke meets North Carolina in Friday’s late ACC semifinal. Duke won their semifinal last year, 93-83, en route to the title.

UNC Freshman Marvin Bagley III, the ACC Player of the Year, was virtually unstoppable in the second half as he made 11 of 12 shots to score 23 of his 33 points while grabbing nine of his 17 rebounds. He was as hot after the break as senior Grayson Allen was before it. Allen had 17 of his 23 points — including five three-pointers — as the Blue Devils (26-6) raced to a 32-19 lead after 10 minutes.

“They are just such an explosive offensive unit and tonight we had no answers,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “Overall I kind of liked our offensive rhythm, but we couldn’t get enough stops. And you know Bagley was just — the first pick in the draft.”

Duke’s offense has been among the nation’s best all season, but its defense has propelled this most recent run. Coach Mike Krzyzewski switched to a zone defense eight games ago and the Blue Devils have allowed an average of 59.5 points since.

When Duke won the 2015 national championship it was senior Quinn Cook surrounded by talented freshmen (including Allen). This season Allen is the senior surrounded by talented freshmen Bagley, Wendell Carter Jr., Trevon Duval and Gary Trent Jr. But he sees the defense as the biggest similarity.

“Our defense at the end of the year is the best that it’s been all season, and that’s the same thing that happened in 2015,” Allen said. “At the end of that year, by the time the tournament came around, we were one of the best defenses in the country.”

Notre Dame put together a 12-3 run in the back of the first half and cut the margin to 41-37 at halftime before Duke opened the second with a 12-4 run including six from Bagley.

“He’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever gone against,” said Colson, who scored 18 points. “He’s really explosive and he has a really quick first step. He deserved all the honors he got this year.”

The Irish (20-14) trailed by double digits the rest of the way and now could be uncomfortable on Selection Sunday. As good as they looked — Krzyzewski said “if they get in, they’ll beat people and have a chance” — Notre Dame doesn’t know if they’ll be seen as the team that floundered without Colson or the one that was good (but not enough) Thursday.

As for the Blue Devils, they seem to be right where they want to be and gaining momentum.

Asked if this is the best Duke has played, Bagley said, “We’re definitely on a roll right now . . . We’re getting better and [there’s] not a better time to grow than March.”

North Carolina 82, No. 3 Miami 65: No. 6 seed UNC (24-9) advanced despite the Hurricanes (22-9) scoring the game’s first 14 points. Roy Williams lifted all five starters with 13:34 left in the first half igniting a 19-4 run back into the game and led by one 32-31 at halftime. Theo Pinson scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and Cameron Johnson finished with 13 for 12th-ranked Carolina, which closed the game on a 13-0 run. Ja’Quan Newton scored 17 for 24th-ranked Miami.