DURHAM, N.C. -- Duquesne coach Ron Everhart has marveled from afar at Duke's renowned ability to play hard every play, be it in a game decided in the final minute or a game decided before halftime.

Yesterday, Everhart and the Dukes got to experience it firsthand -- unfortunately in one of those games that is settled in the first half.

"We've always tried to hang our hat on that at Duquesne, but from an effort standpoint it's just amazing to see in person what you see in my case on television a lot," Everhart said after the Dukes' 95-72 loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "I just hope that one day before the season is over, with the youth we have on our club, that we can somehow get close to that in terms of effort on every play.

"It's great for our team to see that firsthand because I think that will make us better down the stretch."

Maybe so, but it couldn't have been much fun while it was happening, when the seventh-ranked Blue Devils (7-0) held Duquesne to 1-for-10 shooting with eight turnovers during a decisive eight-minute stretch in the first half.

The Dukes (4-1) were hanging around and momentarily quieted the crowd when sophomore Damian Saunders -- who led all scorers with 22 points -- drove the lane for an emphatic left-handed dunk over All-American candidate Kyle Singler to pull Duquesne within 9-6.

But the next time the Dukes scored a field goal on their own, they trailed, 28-10. The Dukes' one basket during the drought came on a possession where they battled for three of their 21 offensive rebounds, but the basket itself came as a result of an inadvertent tip-in by Duke junior Gerald Henderson (the basket was credited to Saunders).

Otherwise, Duquesne didn't come close to scoring a basket during the drought against Duke's devastating man-to-man defense.

"They sure gave us a lot of problems in the halfcourt offensively. They really shut us down," Everhart said. "We tried to keep good spacing because offense is predicated on that, but they really got out on the ball and locked us up early.

"We didn't handle that real well. It's just a credit to the defensive intensity they bring to the game."

The Dukes held three of the Blue Devils' double-digit scorers below their averages, with only Singler -- 17 points and seven rebounds -- achieving his average. But they had no answer for junior forward Lance Thomas, who easily surpassed his career high of 15 points with a 21-point day on 8-for-8 shooting, highlighted by a three-point play followed by a four-point play in a 33-second span.

Duquesne closed strong, outscoring Duke, 23-5, in the late going. It clearly was too little, too late, but it's certainly not too late for the Dukes to benefit from their trip to Tobacco Road.

"It was a great learning experience," said Saunders, who hit 9 of 13 shots and scored the Dukes' first eight points. "Towards the beginning, I think the pressure really got to [the many young Dukes] with playing Duke, but, when we got to the locker room and coach talked to us and settled us down a little bit, I really think they handled it well.

"It's a great experience for us for teams that we have coming up."