DURHAM – Sometimes, that three-word answer has to suffice until the real solution presents itself.

“I don’t know.”

That was the answer from three Blue Devils about why they started another game slow. This one, like most of the others, didn’t cost them in the final result — No. 4 Duke beat Incarnate Word 72-46 on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But it’s a problem that needs to be fixed. The problem within, though, is the Blue Devils (8-2) can’t quite put a finger on why it’s become a trend.

“I don’t know. I think we really haven’t figured it out yet. I don’t really know what to point to,” freshman Cooper Flagg said. “I think all that matters to us really is … we’ve been bouncing back from it.

“Obviously you don’t want to get out to a slow start but for us, we’ve been executing, getting our way back in, settling in after some time.”

That much is fair. It took Duke until the second half to seemingly settle into Tuesday night’s game. The Blue Devils scored the first 11 points, opening up an 18-point lead, and spent the rest of the game leading by anywhere from 16 to 31 points.

Not every slow start has been the same, either. This one was more of a slog for both teams, rather than Duke facing a big hole early, as was the case against Kansas (16-3 deficit), Auburn (13-2) and Louisville (30-16) in the last couple of weeks.

On Tuesday night, Duke’s lead was 12-8 after 12 minutes.

“Tonight, I thought our defense was solid to start, which is better than some of the other games, like when we’re giving up buckets right away to the other team and putting ourselves in a hole,” freshman wing Kon Knueppel said. “But I don’t know, we couldn’t throw a pea in the ocean there for a while.”

In those first 12 minutes, Duke was 5-for-18 shooting with five turnovers. The Blue Devils finished the first half 10-for-30; they shot 14-for-25 in the second half. Duke had seven turnovers in the first half and six in the second — though, three of those six came in the last 3½ minutes when the game had long been decided.

“I don’t know,” guard Sion James said. “I mean, we need to start better. I wish I had an answer for you. Coach (Jon) Scheyer wishes I had an answer for you.”

It’s worth noting, here — and following up later — that this was Duke’s first instance of playing with one day between games. The Blue Devils were at Louisville on Sunday night and Scheyer said if Duke had known earlier that its ACC opener would be a day later than the rest of the league, this game wouldn’t have been scheduled when it was.

The saving grace in the first half was freshman Khaman Maluach.

After scoring a combined 17 points in Duke’s last four games, Maluach had 12 points in the first half and finished with 17. His previous season high was 11.

Duke’s biggest lead in the first half was 10, and that came with 4:17 left before halftime at 24-14. Incarnate Word scored the next seven points; Maluach scored four points in the final minute to send Duke to halftime with a 28-21 lead.

Maluach’s 17 points came on 6-for-7 shooting — and the one miss was a fluky play in which he flushed a dunk, but the ball popped out of the rim quickly and a review overturned the bucket.

“I wouldn’t say there wasn’t anything much different. I was in my same, usual spots,” Maluach said. “My teammates were able to find me and I give credit to them for creating shots for me.”

Duke’s defensive savant, Maliq Brown, was out for the game because of a sprained toe, which he suffered during Sunday night’s win at Louisville. He wasn’t wearing a protective boot or anything noticeable while on the bench; Scheyer said, “the toe can take a little bit of time but we hope to get him back as soon as possible.”

The Blue Devils have a bit of time — their next game is a week from this game, against George Mason. It’s a break for final exams during which Scheyer said they’ll be addressing a lot of things.

Among them is how Duke has started games lately.

“It’s not coming from a lack of focus or effort or us talking about it,” Scheyer said. “I also don’t want to make our guys, where, it’s the only thing they’re thinking about. … I think there’s a lot of things that factor in.

“We’ve talked about our warmup and the understanding of, if you give a team life the first couple of possessions, you’re seeing a different team for maybe the rest of the half and maybe the rest of the game. Part of it is learning. … We’re going to work at everything to make sure we’re ready to go. Which, I thought we were tonight. I thought we missed a lot of shots.”

TIP-INS: There were a couple of high-profile football transfer targets in attendance. Quarterback Darien Mensah (Tulane) and wide receiver Horatio Fields (Wake Forest) stood atop the lower level with offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer and presumed returners on next season’s team. Mensah stood with the Crazies for about four minutes of game time in the second half when they called him over. … Isaiah Evans got going in the second half and pumped in four 3s in the last 10½ minutes. The freshman finished with 14 points. … In addition to his 17-point game, Maluach had seven rebounds—the most he’s had since Duke’s loss to Kentucky in the third game of the season. … Incarnate Word (5-5) was led by Jalen Anderson and Dylan Hayman both scoring 11 points. The Cardinals’ leading scorer entering the game, Davion Bailey, was 1-for-10 from the field and scored four points. … Incarnate Word’s previous season low for points in a game was 65, against East Texas A&M.