Just before breaking for exams Duke played four straight games against teams it figured to beat. And so it did. Handily.
An essential ingredient in making that happen was a defense that forced at least 20 turnovers per game, 90 in all in four outings. That embrace of energizing man-to-man defense added an element not often seen recently at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Suddenly, through 10 games the Blue Devils averaged 16.7 turnovers forced per game.
This put the 2018-19 Devils in an elite category among recent Duke teams, even if such a rate of forcing turnovers is unlikely to be sustained once ACC play begins.