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USATSI

After Duke destroyed St. Johns 91-61 on Saturday, it's almost unbelievable the game was close late in the first half when the Blue Devils held just a 35-33 lead. The Red Storm was actually keeping pace with the most dangerous team in college basketball and trying to pull off something no team outside the ACC had done since, well, St. John's -- almost 19 years ago.

Duke's nonconference win streak dates back to Feb. 26, 2000, when the Red Storm won inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. No out-of-league opponents have done it since. That remains true.

On Saturday, the streak extended to 147 games because the game bloated from 35-33 to 47-37 at the half and Duke cruised in the second half.  A cross-half 42-19 run by No. 2 Duke -- peppered with one wow play after another from Zion Williamson -- put the game to bed long before the final buzzer. Williamson put up arguably the best game of his career, scoring 29 points, grabbing six rebounds, swiping five steals and popping two blocks.  

He was also 13-of-17 from the field (76.5 percent), which will improve his shooting efficiency numbers. 

In what was the final nonconference regular-season game of college basketball's 2018-19 season, No. 2 Duke (19-2) once more reminded the nation of how lethal it can be. It starts with Williamson. Sometimes it ends with him as well. That was the scenario on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

I'm not exaggerating when I write that Williamson had 10-12 plays in this game that would serve as season-making highlights for most other players in college basketball. I've whittled down what you need to see with five of the more notable/impressive/OK-that's-dumb plays No. 1 put on St. John's. 

First, we've got the sneaky steal here. Williamson tied a career high for steals in this one.  

Next up, just another Williamson dunk, right? Well, this came about five seconds after he weaved through traffic and made a reverse layup. Also, notice the command he dunks here with his right hand; Williamson is a lefty.

There seems to be at least one of these humiliating blocks from Zion every game. 

Now this is where it gets stupid and where, if you're the general manager of the NBA team that is lucky enough to land the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA Draft, you eliminate all other candidates. Williamson has to have the top pick on lock. You've got a guy who's listed at 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds doing this? And even if you're a Williamson height-and-weight truther, even if you think he's 6-6 and 270 or whatever, this is still outstanding. 

Finally, for what seems like the seventh or eighth time this season, we've got a clip of Williamson getting so high so effortlessly, his head is at rim height. 

Williamson is often the headline on any Duke game, but the team won for reasons far beyond him. Tre Jones, who has a claim as the top defender in college basketball, held St. John's potential All-American Shamorie Ponds scoreless in the first half and to just 11 points in the game, almost half his season average.

Jones finished with a career-best seven rebounds in addition to 13 points, seven assists, three steals and five turnovers. Duke's 3-point shooting was hot early, which helped the Blue Devils swat away St. John's in the first 18 minutes of the game. Cam Reddish, who has been streaky, had 13 first-half points and finished the game with 16, including four 3-pointers. 

This is where Duke's talent and strength of its starting five gets nuts. It was, by all accounts, a quiet night for RJ Barrett, who by the way is the leading scorer in the ACC and might wind up setting the league record for most points averaged by a freshman. He had 15 points ... and 14 rebounds!

Duke won by 30 against a fairly talented team that can make the NCAA Tournament, despite 27-percent shooting from 3-point range, 61 percent from the foul line and committing 18 turnovers. That's eyebrow-raising. 

Williamson will get the lion's share of the recognition in this one, and perhaps that's fair, but the all-around effort here combined with the final margin is a refresher on why Duke at its best can claim to be stronger than any other team.