This was a blast for Butler. The kid was all over the court, making big-time shots and also coming up with key stops in the second half that turned the game and ultimately helped Duke avoid a loss to a tough, gritty and undefeated Texas Tech team.

“I’m here for Tre,” Butler told me at halftime. “That’s my guy.”

These days, Tre Jones is everyone’s guy. He’s the one who feeds three mouths – those of the three highest-rated freshman in the country. While Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish have received the bulk of the attention, it’s been Jones who has been the most important Blue Devils player.

He’s unselfish.

He’s a leader.

And he defends.

In fact, Coach K said that Tre Jones was the best perimeter defender to come through the Duke program since Chris Duhon — and he left Durham 14 years ago.

“He’s as good of a defender, especially now at the college level, that I’ve seen,” Tyus Jones told Stadium from his hotel room in San Antonio after watching his younger brother of four years finish with 13 points, six steals, five assists and just one turnover.

Tre Jones is like his brother Tyus in many ways, but he’s not like his brother in many others. They look alike and share many of the same leadership qualities and intangibles, but Tyus was always considered the superior perimeter shooter and the better floor general while Tre was always regarded as more athletic and a much higher-level defender.

Through the first 12 games of their college careers, their assist-to-turnover numbers are strikingly similar. Tyus had 66 assists and 18 turnovers while Tre has 67 assists and only 13 turnovers.

“He has the ability to have real-time leadership while the game is going on, and the ability to improvise or make reads,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Tre gives me the ability to do that. He’s a Godsend for me. … He’s got it.”

Sounds just like what he said about another point guard named Jones four years ago.

Barrett struggled through a 7-of-22 night and missed on all seven of his shots from deep on Thursday night at MSG. Reddish was 1-for-7 from the field, and Williamson was in foul trouble for much of the second half.

It was Jones who rescued Duke from its second loss of the season.

“For me, it was a typical normal Tre performance,” Tyus said. “Nothing out of the ordinary for me.”

And that’s what makes Jones invaluable. It’s impossible to judge him by the numbers. While Zion wows everyone in the crowd with his incredible, unique combination of size, strength and athleticism, Jones just does what he does. He could have gone elsewhere and averaged far more than 8.7 points per game, but he’s has had to take a step back as a freshman to make certain that his trio of freshman teammates are happy. He’s taken just 92 shots through a dozen games, compared to 233 for Barrett, 141 for Williamson and 138 for Reddish.

“It’s not easy, but at the same time I’m playing for the greatest coach of all-time and playing with some of the top players in the country,” Tre Jones said. “So as difficult as it is making an adjustment, it’s not that difficult because I get to play my game and get to feed these guys and do as much as I can on the defensive end.”

Tyus won a national title in 2015 playing, but he got far more attention entering Durham as a key member of a Duke recruiting class that included Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow. He also got plenty more shots. In this group, Tre Jones has been completely overshadowed by the current version of Duke’s Big Three.

Tre doesn’t mind.

“That’s what you do, boy,” Tyus texted his little brother on Thursday night.

All those intangibles that result in wins — just like his brother.