DURHAM, N.C. — If redemption was on Duke’s mind heading into Saturday’s battle with St. John’s, it got it with a 91-61 romp at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Last season, St. John’s stunned the Blue Devils 81-77 behind a 33-point performance from guard Shamorie Ponds. Only three members of that Duke squad (Marques Bolden, Jack White and Javin DeLaurier) saw action in that contest, though, combining for just 20 minutes of playing time.

And while leading up to the game point guard Tre Jones said he and his fellow freshman teammates were well aware of the loss, and the returning players’ desire to right the wrong, the visiting Red Storm might have unintentionally provided this Duke team with more fuel.

St. John’s and New York City basketball is often considered synonymous with toughness, and grit. Whether true or not, the Red Storm certainly believed it when it took the floor on Saturday. And they tried to relay that message to the Blue Devils.

Particularly Mustapha Heron. Unfortunately for him and his teammates, it didn’t work. Not only did it fail, it had unintended consequences.

“If they did that, it just made it worse for them,” RJ Barrett said. “That just motivates us to play harder and play better.”

And indeed it did.

Throughout the first 10 minutes of play, Heron tried continuously to get into Zion Williamson’s head. At one point, with Duke ready to inbound the ball, and leading just 28-23, Heron placed his forearm in Williamson’s chest.

The referee warned Heron. The St. John’s junior guard did not heed the referee’s warning. Instead, he continued to place his hand on Williamson. Again, the referee confronted Heron and warned Williamson. The Duke freshman, just held his hands in the air, saying, “I didn’t say or do anything.”

As Heron laughed, believing he was in the head of Duke’s star freshman, Williamson simply shook it off and took note.

Unfortunately for Heron, that was beginning of his and St. John’s downfall.

At 8:46 in the first half, Williamson sent the message - whether he intended to or not. The freshman put the ball on the floor, spun toward the lane and lowered his shoulder to absorb contact. Instead, he bulldozed Heron, who was rewarded with a charge call on Williamson.

But in that moment, Heron’s alpha mentality turned to submission. So, too, did that of his entire team.

Heron, who up to that moment had connected on 3-of-5 shots and registered one steal, finished the rest of the game 1-of-9.

Williamson, on the other hand, would go on to score 15 more points over the next 8:46 and head into the locker room with 19 of his eventual 29 points. Duke, as a team, turned five-point lead into a 10-point advantage at the half.

With that 10-point lead, St. John’s was dejected and it was showing all over the players’ faces as they walked off the court for the halftime break.

“They had cut it to, I want to say, one or two within those four minutes, and we were able to put a run together - a couple Zion dunks that really gave us a boost and changed the momentum,” Jones said. “We carried that over to the second half and kept it rolling.”

Duke did exactly that by opening the second half with a 16-2 run and taking a 63-39 lead just out of the first media timeout at 15:48.

At that point, it was over. St. John’s had no shot.

The Blue Devils continued to step on the gas, and never let up, leading by as many as 31 points before the final tick of the clock.

Duke’s domination stemmed from Heron and his teammates’ attempt to be the more physical team and get in the heads of the Duke freshmen. But it was how the Blue Devils executed that made their desire to take control of the game come to life.

All of that started with Jones’ defense on Ponds - the guy who dropped 33 on Duke last season. That wasn’t happening this time and Jones was going to make sure of it.

By the end of the first half, Ponds was scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting and had posted five turnovers in the first 20 minutes of action. He did have four assists and two steals, but that was the only thing positive going for the dynamic guard.

Not much changed in the second half, despite Ponds scoring 11 points, five of which came from the free throw line. He was rendered useless for the Red Storm and Jones was primarily responsible for that outcome.

“He was out there locking up,” Barrett said. “He does that everything game. He definitely had Marques (Bolden) back there helping him out. Tre’s defense really leads us.”

Jones humbly points to his teammates for helping him to keep Ponds in check.

“I was just trying to force him into tough shots,” Jones noted. “I knew that if forced him into tougher shots that I had guys behind me that are there to also contest his shots. They were there as well to force him into tough shots.”

In addition to controlling Ponds, Duke’s overall defense was yet again played at a high level. The Blue Devils held St. John’s to just 33.8-percent from the floor and 19.2-percent from long range, while also turning them over 15 times.

Duke recorded 12 steals with Williamson posting a team-high five, Jones with three and Barrett with two.

In addition to his defense, Jones had a strong overall effort, scoring 13 points, handing out seven assists and registering seven rebounds. He did, however, have his highest turnover total of his young career with five. Even still, his presence was huge for Duke.

Barrett, who scored 15 points, was Duke’s most dominant force on the backboards, pulling down 14 total, 12 of which came on the defensive glass. His effort helped Duke turnaround a three rebound halftime edge to a 18 board (48-30) advantage by game’s end.

In addition to their efforts, Cam Reddish was perhaps the player that first set the tone for Duke, making his first three attempts from 3-point range. Two of those makes came within the first 1:37 of the game.

He finished the day with 16 points, and after many nights in the gym getting up shots, finally began to see the ball go through the net.

“He’s been in the gym a lot lately to get shots up and get back to how he knows he can play. He came out on fire,” Jones said.

“Cam came out and hit like three or four threes,” Williamson added. “We were like, ‘Bro, keep shooting. Let them fly.’ Cam can explode at any moment.”

Duke’s brief intermission from ACC play landed it a lopsided victory, and yet another opportunity for this team to improve before the homestretch of league play. The Blue Devils now turn their attention to Tuesday when Boston College heads to Durham.