DURHAM, N.C. — Duke returned home Saturday for an ACC heavyweight battle with Louisville, and in the end the Cardinals came out on top, defeating the Blue Devils 79-73.

For many, the game will be remembered as one of the most physical contests the Blue Devils have been in for quite some time, and perhaps vice versa.

Thirty-nine fouls were called, 22 of which were whistled on the Blue Devils. While both teams have certainly accumulated high numbers of fouls, it was the manner in which they were whistled that drew the ire of Mike Krzyzewski.

“That was like an early 90s Pistons-Bulls game,” Krzyzewski said after the game. “Tonight, that’s not the way it should be. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t beat us. Give them credit.

“There should be freedom of movement … for both of us, you can’t have that."

Krzyzewski’s issue with the whistles certainly has merit. Fans from both teams likely have some complaints, and rightfully so.

In the end, though, Duke’s head coach said it was Louisville that executed and “did their stuff better.”

That was particularly the case to open the game. Louisville landed a flurry of haymakers early in the game, but it was the defensive intensity that set the tone.

Louisville had extremely active hands from the very start, resulting in nine Duke turnovers over the first 10 minutes of the game. Those Duke miscues were being turned into quick points for the Cardinals, as they jumped ahead by as many as 15 points before the game reached the halfway point of the opening period.

Duke was rattled and not much was going its way.

“Their defense is really good,” Matthew Hurt, who scored 16 points, said. “We knew this was going to be a tough game. They were packing the lane, so whatever we could do. Rolls didn’t go our way tonight."

The Blue Devils’ inability to prevent turnovers during that stretch ultimately doomed them, leaving them to fight back from deficits all night long.

To Duke’s credit, the team was able to get a handle on ball protection. After turning it over nine times in those opening 10 minutes, the Blue Devils handed it over just seven more times over the course of the final 30 minutes of action.

It was that discipline that allowed the Blue Devils to claw back from a 10-point halftime deficit and put themselves in a position to win the game.

Freshman Cassius Stanley was on top of his game and was a big reason Duke was able to stay within striking distance in the first half. He finished the night with a game high 24 points and 11 rebounds, giving him his first career double-double.

He scored 14 of his 24 in the first half and provided Duke with multiple sparks after electrifying the Cameron Crazies with some explosive dunks.

Stanley’s defense on ACC Preseason Player of the Year Jordan Nworo was also quite impressive. Though the freshman had help, he was tasked with the primary responsibility of keeping Nworo in check.

He did exactly that, holding him to just six points on 3-of-12 shooting.

Despite his stellar play on both ends of the floor, his struggles shooting from the perimeter (1-of-7), along with his team’s, who went 6-of-25 overall from 3-point range, proved to be a problem down the stretch.

Their inability to prevent Louisville freshman David Johnson from having a career game, when he scored 19 points and posted seven assists, also played a huge role in Louisville’s strength to hold off Duke runs and combat their star’s struggles.

Duke tied the game twice, and pulled within one point three times only to see Louisville to stretch the lead back out to five points or more. Louisville had an answer every single time Duke appeared to be in position to regain the lead and take control of the contest.

“We were able to fight back,” Tre Jones said. “We were able to tie the game multiple times down the stretch but they continued to make plays and pull out the win.”

The Blue Devils had a chance in the final moments, down 73-70, to tie the game up. In fact, they had three possessions after Louisville missed three shots and turned the ball over once from the 2:23 mark to the closing seconds.

Stanley missed a shot attempt with 2:47 to go that would have cut the Louisville lead to one point. After the Cardinals missed their next two attempts on the following possession, Duke came out of a 30 second timeout and failed again to cut into the lead.

Jones, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, missed a shot in the paint and less than a minute later missed aa 3-point attempt.

Duke had one more opportunity with 24 seconds to go when Louisville’s Lamarr Kimble turned it over and left the Blue Devils running the floor.

Stanley took the pass up court and with Hurt open in the corner, he chose to get his man off balance and try his seventh 3-point attempt of the game. The shot missed and the game was essentially over in that moment.

Though the loss did not hinge on that shot alone, Stanley took responsibility and placed the blame on his shoulders.

“We were down three. I felt it. But it was a bad shot. That’s really the reason we lost, so I take full responsibility for that.

“I would’ve attacked the basket, honestly,” he said when asked what he would do differently. “I don’t even know. I should’ve gotten a better shot than that. That’s on me.”

Jones shouldered the blame as well, but labeled the team’s tough start as the culprit.

“We’ll learn from those plays. Just continue to take our shots confidently, believe in ourselves. They were just playing physical in the first half. Took us about 10 minutes to adjust. That was probably the game right there when it comes down to it - them coming out and getting on us early.”