Kansas guard Josh Jackson (11) gets up for a rebound over Duke guard Frank Jackson (15) during the first half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Duke, forever armed with good shooters, also always does a great job of creating one-on-one driving opportunities for its scorers.

Just about every year, the Blue Devils rank high in conversations about the best offensive teams in college basketball and all the efficiency statistics back up what our eyes tell us in the first place.

This year’s Blue Devils, even with three top freshmen sidelined by injuries, are no exception. That’s what made the defense Kansas played in the opening 12 minutes of the second half so impressive in scoring the 77-75 victory Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Kansas took control by outscoring Duke, 33-16, in the first 12 minutes after the break. During that stretch, Duke committed five turnovers and made 5 of 15 shots from the field.

“I think the really special thing about us is that, we’re a pretty good team offensively, but I think we have some really, really good defenders and I think that’s going to be the key to our team, defense,” freshman Josh Jackson said. “I think we can be a great team defensively.”

That statement from the nation’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2016, far more than the ranking itself, is one reason Kansas coach Bill Self pursued Jackson so aggressively. With Self, it’s all about making the other team uncomfortable.

Self stopped short of using “great,” but did say his team, “really guarded,” coming out for the second half.

“I think we can become a very good defensive team,” Self said. “There are times where if we play small, to me, it can be more encouraging sometimes. Sometimes if we play big and other teams play small it creates matchup problems for us.”

For example, Carlton Bragg is vulnerable to getting beaten on the drive by shorter players when Kansas faces four-guard lineups.

“Back when we had Shady (Darrell Arthur) and guys like that (Marcus Morris, although not as quick as Arthur, would be another example), it didn’t matter because they moved like guards. I think we can become a very good defensive team, but we’re not there yet. We’re still a long ways away from that.”

Jackson fouled out in 18 minutes of action, although one of them came on a first-half technical.

“On-ball defense has been a little bit of a struggle for us with the way referees have been calling games lately with the hand-checking and things,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to try to get guys to stay out of trouble and move our feet.”

He sounded so excited talking about the team’s defensive possibilities. What a great sign.