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DURHAM — Kyle Singler said up front he didn't want to talk about Duke's loss to Wisconsin because it was history.

Thirty seconds later, he talked about Wisconsin.

Singler scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals, playing all but one minute of No. 6 Duke's 80-71 victory over St. John's on Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Nolan Smith scored 16 points and Jon Scheyer 15 for the Blue Devils (7-1), who played for the first time since a four-point loss at Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night.

Singler had a career-high 28 points in that loss, but Saturday the do-it-all 6-foot-8 junior seemed more excited that Duke big men Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek scored 11 points apiece and combined for 15 rebounds against St. John's (6-1).

"I told y'all I wasn't going to talk about the Wisconsin game, but I guess I am," Singler said. "We feel like we didn't use each other in that game like we should've. We learned from that, so this game it was a focus to try to play off each other, to get kick-out (passes to the perimeter), get connecting plays, to use our post men to create a different look."

Thomas and Zoubek came off the bench to create that look inside, combining to hit 9-of-12 shots and grab every key rebound. Duke outrebounded St. John's 41-31 and outscored the Red Storm 17-5 in second-chance points.

"The perimeter has to get those guys more involved," said Singler, who played guard, small forward and even some power forward Saturday. "It's mainly on us. I thought we did a decent job with that tonight, getting them involved, getting them in a rhythm so defenses can't just focus on the perimeter. We're going to have to use everyone on the court if we're going to have the kind of season we want."

D.J. Kennedy scored 18 points and dished out nine assists to lead St. John's. Kennedy scored all of his points in the second half, when the Red Storm cut a 16-point halftime deficit to 54-50 with 10 minutes left.

Duke, which built its big lead with its big men, went to a perimeter-oriented lineup the rest of the way. Thomas stayed on the floor as the only true forward, surrounded by Singler, Scheyer, Smith and freshman guard Andre Dawkins.

"It works well when you're playing a team like St. John's that's athletic and creates mismatches," Singler said. "&ellipses; Sometimes you can't have two big guys out there.

"It's a better matchup," he added. "I think that's a lineup we're going to have in most games when it's close, because we have better ball-handling and better free-throw shooting. It's a lineup that coach is confident with at the end of games."

It's a lineup that responded with a 14-2 scoring run to put the game away.

Thomas started it with an open jumper — St. John's dared the big man to shoot 10-footers and he hit three of them — Scheyer hit two free throws and Smith drove the lane for a three-point play.

Singler showed off his versatility, scoring the other seven points on a 3-point jumper from the corner, a basket in traffic in the lane and a post-up turnaround jumper.

"This was like a big conference game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's a fight in early December. I thought they did extremely well. I'm pleased with the win and the come back with that type of vigor after a really tough loss at Wisconsin."

NOTES: Duke is 10-2 in games following a loss in the last three seasons. ... Duke is 14-5 all-time against St. John's, winning the last seven in a row..Duke (1,884) and St. John's (1,692) rank fourth and seventh on the NCAA's all-time victories list.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

ST. JOHN'S (6-1) — Evans 8-13 1-6 17, Burrell 1-2 0-0 2, Kennedy 5-10 5-5 18, Boothe 3-5 0-0 7, Horne 4-9 0-0 9, Lawrence 1-2 0-0 2, Hardy 3-8 0-0 7, Coker 2-2 1-2 5, Stith 0-1 0-0 0, Brownlee 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 29-57 7-13 71.

DUKE (7-1) — Ma.Plumlee 1-3 2-2 4, Singler 6-18 4-7 17, Mi.Plumlee 1-1 0-0 2, Smith 5-11 4-5 16, Scheyer 4-14 5-5 15, Dawkins 1-5 0-0 2, Kelly 1-1 0-0 2, Thomas 5-7 1-1 11, Zoubek 4-5 3-4 11. Totals 28-65 19-24 80.

Halftime—Duke 40-24.
3-point goals—St. John's 6-18 (Kennedy 3-6, Boothe 1-2, Horne 1-3, Hardy 1-5, Brownlee 0-2), Duke 5-17 (Smith 2-3, Scheyer 2-8, Singler 1-3, Dawkins 0-3).
Fouled out—Evans.
Rebounds—St. John's 31 (Coker, Evans 6), Duke 41 (Singler, Thomas 8).
Assists—St. John's 14 (Kennedy 9), Duke 15 (Scheyer 6).
Total fouls—St. John's 19, Duke 12.
A—9,314.