Duke's Amile Jefferson had 18 points in the first half. Luke Kennard added 13. So the Blue Devils were up 10 on Florida after 20 minutes, at which point Gators coach Michael White provided a simple and honest assessment.

"They're really good," White said during his halftime interview. "We're not as good.

Truer words, as they say, were never spoken.

Those are some super-true words.

And Tuesday's second half provided nothing to the contrary as No. 5 Duke cruised to an 84-74 win over No. 21 Florida inside New York's Madison Square Garden. Here are five takeaways from the nightcap of the Jimmy V Classic:

1. Duke is getting healthy and scary

The Blue Devils, at various times, had the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year (Grayson Allen), two more players currently among the top 10 candidates for National Player of the Year (Jefferson and Kennard), and a projected top-five pick (Jayson Tatum) on the court against Florida. And they'll have two more projected lottery picks (Harry Giles and Marques Bolden) regularly in uniform soon. So good luck, everybody. Remember, Duke was the preseason No. 1 when nobody assumed Kennard and Jefferson were legitimate Player of the Year candidates. But both are. And if that remains true, and if the freshmen play to their potential, and if Allen gets completely healthy and back to normal, man, watch out.

2. Kennard has made a huge jump from last season

I'm on record that Saint Mary's Jock Landale is this season's biggest surprise. But Kennard deserves a place in that conversation. The sophomore guard averaged 11.8 points as a freshman. Now Kennard is averaging 20.4 points after going 11 of 16 from the field and finishing with a game-high 29 points vs. Florida. He's scored a combined 64 points in Duke's past two contests.

3. Tatum seems to be getting comfortable

Tatum suffered a preseason foot injury and missed Duke's first eight games before debuting last Saturday in a 94-55 win over Maine. He was good then. But the 6-8 forward looked great against the Gators while going 7 of 11 from the field and finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds, which led an NBA scout in attendance to send the following text my way: "Looks like a top-three pick to me."

4. Don't forget about Jefferson

Duke's lone fifth-year senior continued his string of great performances. Jefferson got 24 points and 15 rebounds while recording his fifth double-double in the past seven games. He's now averaging 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds. He'll have a case for First Team All-ACC honors if he keeps anything close to this up.

5. UNLV is next for the Blue Devils

A trip to Las Vegas to play UNLV is next for Duke. That game is scheduled for Saturday. And it -- as well as the Blue Devils' subsequent two contests against Tennessee State and Elon -- should be an easy win, meaning Duke will likely enter the ACC portion of its schedule with a 12-1 record.

That's not perfection, obviously.

But it's far from bad given the injuries endured.

Bottom line, the Blue Devils still aren't healthy but they are healthier. And, yes, they seem very capable of adding a sixth national title to Mike Krzyzewski's resume.