DURHAM, N.C. — Duke electrified Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon with a jaw-dropping performance that led to a 94-60 victory over Notre Dame.

For the second game in a row, the Blue Devils got off to a strong start. And while quicker, more efficient starts has been a point of emphasis for Duke over the last week, it was the second half fireworks that ignited one of the team’s best 20 minute stretches of the season.

“The first half, I thought we outplayed them for 13 minutes and they outplayed us for seven,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “The second half, we just exploded.”

Duke outscored Notre Dame 52-28 in the second half. The tone was set early in the final 20 minutes when the Blue Devils extended their 10-point halftime lead to as many as 19 with 15:36 to go.

Vernon Carey and Tre Jones, who had dominated much of the first half, combined for seven of Duke’s 14 points over that stretch, while Wendell Moore, Jordan Goldwire and Matt Hurt accounted for the other seven. At that point, Duke was up 56-37.

As hot as Duke was during that 4:24 stretch, Notre Dame did not yet appear to be knocked out of the game. For a moment, it looked like the Fighting Irish might stop the bleeding when Prentiss Hubb connected on a 3-pointer to cut the Duke lead back to 16 with 15:09 on the clock.

The teams went the next 1:36 trading missed shots. Notre Dame cut Duke’s lead down one more point on a Nate Laszewski free throw and then everything changed.

Duke erupted into a flurry that culminated with the Blue Devils outscoring Notre Dame 29-12 over a 9:48 stretch in the second half.

That run was sparked by two unexpected players - Joey Baker and Alex O’Connell, who sent the arena into a frenzy.

The duo was sitting at the scorers table waiting to check-in with 13:53 left in the game. Little did everyone in the building know - something big was about to happen. Baker, however, had an idea that one of them, if not both, was going to blow the roof off the building.

“Joey told me something like, ’this is going to be a big game for one of us, or both of us,” O’Connell said.

Forty-two seconds later, O’Connell drilled a 3-pointer and Duke was back up 18. Thirty-two seconds later Baker buried one of his own. The lead was now 21, 62-41. For nearly the next two minutes, the two lit up Notre Dame, combining for 14 points, helping Duke go up 28, 72-44, with 10:48 left in the game.

They eventually combined for 20 points in the second half with O’Connell registering 12, and Baker eight. O’Connell also completed the game with five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Duke would run its lead to as many as 35 points thanks to a total team effort. Javin DeLaurier scored all seven of his points in the second half, while Jones added six points, six assists and four rebounds in the half. He finished the game with 19 points, six assists and seven boards.

Carey scored just five of his 21 in the final half, but his dominance in the first 20 minutes opened up opportunities for his teammates the rest of the game. Carey essentially did as he pleased the entire first half, making 6-of-7 shot attempts.

He owned the post and nothing Notre Dame did could slow him down, whether that was throwing Juwan Durham or John Mooney at him.

“I felt like they were playing more on my left side today in the post,” Carey said. “So, I just made counter moves to the right side. It was just hard for them to defend that.”

Matthew Hurt scored six of his 12 points, and grabbed seven of his nine rebounds in the second half. Jordan Goldwire did damage as well, but most of his came in the first half when he scored seven of his nine points.

Jones tried to put his feelings about the second half effort into words.

“Having a run like that is what we all look forward to,” he said. “All the fans on their feet going crazy for us. All the bench guys standing up and getting into it. Us on the floor, we’re all smiling and having a great time. And the guys coming back who helped build Duke basketball to what it is - just to be able to make them proud. It means a lot to us to be able to play like that.”

While the offense was clicking in every way - Duke shot 56.5-percent from the field and 45.5-percent from 3-point range - it was the effort on defense that made it all happen.

Duke held Notre Dame to just 23.8-percent (5-of-21) from 3-point range. Defending the three and creating turnovers were points of emphasis for Duke and they executed masterfully.

According to Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, Duke’s ball pressure was simply too much for them to handle. Duke players agreed, while also adding that running shooters off the line and clogging passing lanes proved to be huge as well.

The Blue Devils forced 14 turnovers (Notre Dame averages just under 10 a game) with 11 of those coming via the steal. In addition to O’Connell’s four, Goldwire added three. Four other players recorded one apiece.

“They don’t turn it over a lot, so just trying to pressure them like crazy,” Jones said of their plan defensively. “They are shooters, so trying to make them ball-handlers rather than shooters. Trying to take their legs from them with how much we were pressuring them and then also pushing the pace.”

O’Connell added his take.

“We put a big emphasis on contesting those passes because they do a lot of motion,” he noted. “So if we can just contest some of those passes. They shoot a lot of 3s, and we watched film last night on some 3s they took against Florida State and they shoot some pretty wild shots, so we were prepared for that.”

Duke’s win over Notre Dame, and Louisville’s loss to Clemson on Saturday, put the Blue Devils back at the top of the ACC standings with a 12-2 league record.