Duke trailed much of the game but seemed to gain control with a 10-0 run midway through the second half.

The Blue Devils pulled ahead for the first time since an early 10-8 lead when freshman Josh McRoberts dunked two times in a row off lob passes to make it 42-40. They pushed the lead to 45-40 and had a chance to bury LSU when Redick wound up with an open 3 after a missed free throw.

The ball clanked off the rim, and Mitchell connected on a 3 at the other end to pull LSU to 45-43 with 8½ minutes to go.

Duke struggled to get free of LSU’s lanky, quick defenders — epitomized by 6-foot-9 Thomas, who plays even bigger, and Temple, a 6-5 guard who draped himself on Redick.

Davis, whose 6-9, 320-pound frame is more in line with Charles Barkley, doesn’t fit the mold of his teammates but is the unquestioned leader in just his sophomore year. The SEC player of the year even knew what to do at the end, instructing a teammate to pass the ball to Mitchell so the young team’s only senior starter would have it at the buzzer.

Mitchell hurled the ball off the scoreboard hanging above the court.

“We didn’t get the respect we deserve,” he said. “We could use that as motivation.”

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The Blue Devils seemed to catch a break when Davis picked up two quick fouls, heading to the bench with 9:01 left in the first half. He watched the rest of the period from a chair, but his teammates didn’t wilt their own without their star.

LSU was up 15-12 when Davis took a seat and actually improved on that margin before the break, leading 31-27 in Duke’s lowest-scoring first half of the season. Williams, with 14 points, accounted for more than half of his team’s offense but got little help from Redick or anyone else.

Brady clapped his hands when the horn sounded at halftime. Davis glanced up at the scoreboard and had a smile on his face as he stepped off the court, despite having scored just four points.

Big Baby had an even bigger smile when it was over.