Duke's Mental Toughness Has Been On Display During Its 9-0 Start To The Season.

While Duke was one of the most dominant teams in recent college basketball history last season, it struggled to close in tight games. In games decided by six points or fewer, the Blue Devils were 1-4. And this weakness was exposed on the largest stage possible.

Duke was leading by nine points in the Final Four. It was two minutes and five seconds away from the national championship game. However, due to two turnovers, a missed free throw and an unfortunate foul call, it melted down against Houston in one of the great collapses in NCAA Tournament history.

Nearly eight months later, a completely retooled Blue Devil team hosted the reigning-champion Florida Gators in what felt like a March Madness game on Tuesday night. And, once again, the Devils blew another lead.

The Gators erased a 15-point deficit to climb in front — 66-64 with 30 seconds remaining — for the first time since the 12:15 mark of the first half. But to avoid facing the same fate that Cooper Flagg's squad met in San Antonio, Jon Scheyer leaned on his two most prominent returning players.

First, it was sophomore sharpshooter Isaiah Evans burying a go-ahead triple after missing his first seven attempts from 3-point range. After Florida elected to not call timeout for the ensuing possession, it was upperclassman guard Caleb Foster's turn to make a winning play. He recorded a steal with two seconds left to go in order to secure the win

This is the first Blue Devil team to start 9-0 since 2017-2018, which Scheyer isn't taking for granted. 

"It shows there is a mental toughness to this group to just find ways to win," Scheyer said. "Arkansas was a close game. Obviously, Kansas down the stretch. Tonight, it says a lot about the character and the toughness."

He added, "You just have to have that humility and understand that winning can make you soft. And I think our guys have done a great job of continuing to figure out how to get better."

Kansas trimmed a large Duke lead to three points with five minutes remaining at the Champion's Classic at MSG. Thanks to Cam Boozer's late-game emergence, the Blue Devils pulled away to win 78-66. On Thanksgiving Day, Duke trailed Arkansas by seven points with 10 minutes to go. Boozer's 35 points fueled the comeback in a 79-71 victory in Chicago.

Perhaps Duke's most difficult task awaits on Saturday when it travels to Breslin Center face No. 7 Michigan State.