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Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski will make his return to the bench against Pitt on Saturday. And it comes at a time when the Blue Devils may be ready to play their best basketball of the season.

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Duke may still be battling a few issues as it tries to better resemble a national championship contender, but the Blue Devils are getting back longtime head coach Mike Krzyzewski on Saturday for their game against Pitt.

It was announced on Thursday night that Coach K will be on the bench for the first time since undergoing back surgery, giving him a month-plus to fine-tune Duke for the season’s stretch run and the NCAA Tournament.

Saturday. ????????????#HereComesDuke pic.twitter.com/Dxll7aqlPN

— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 2, 2017

Despite the bevy of preseason expectations that have not exactly been met thus far as they dealt with numerous injuries—including the one to their Hall of Fame head coach—the Blue Devils can still finish the 2016-17 college basketball season with flair after going 4-3 under interim head coach Jeff Capel, who saw his team drop three of four games in one frustrating stretch.

Keep in mind that before Krzyzewski’s surgery, Duke had played just three games at full strength. Harry Giles was just getting his season started and Grayson Allen was being tripped up by his on-the-court antics, just two obstacles to overcome for a team loaded with McDonald’s All-Americans. The Blue Devils have just not gelled for much of the year.

However, many of the offensive woes the team endured looked like they were put in the rear view mirror last Monday night against Notre Dame in South Bend. The performance was probably Duke’s best since destroying Georgia Tech in Coach K’s final game before surgery.

One player who is rounding into form at the right time, which will greatly help this team down the stretch, is Jayson Tatum at power forward. The 6-8 St. Louis native excelled at the spot in the team’s 84-74 win against the Fighting Irish, recording 19 points and career-best 14 rebounds for his first double-double. At times, Tatum looked like the best player on the floor.

Remember that Krzyzewski won a national title two years ago when 6-7 Justise Winslow saw a lot of action at the four spot. Against the Fighting Irish, Capel relied primarily on his starting five of Tatum, Amile Jefferson, Allen, Luke Kennard and Matt Jones. The 37 minutes were the most Tatum played since he recorded 38 in a Jan. 10 loss at Florida State. The reliance on the starting five was the best move Capel could have made, as it appeared to be the best offensive five Duke has to offer. The Blue Devils finally looked cohesive, which was a seemingly impossible task to pull off with all of their injuries throughout the 2016-17 campaign. Tatum is a natural scorer, as he is second on the team with 16.1 points per contest, and he can thrive in his role as a four.

There is no question that the Duke offense functions best when it’s being run through Allen and Kennard, but Tatum is going to have an opportunity to be an established third option if the Blue Devils continue to use a small lineup. His athleticism will cause mismatches for some opponents, as it did against the Irish when he drove past V.J. Beachem or posted up the smaller Steve Vasturia. Tatum is still raw, so there are going to be mistakes. But there is no doubt that his presence in the Duke lineup gives the Blue Devils the best chance to flourish the rest of the way.

This certainly won’t go down as Coach K’s best defensive team even with Jefferson healthy, although the Blue Devils had a solid defensive effort against ND. What is most important starting on Saturday, though, is getting each player on that roster to start believing that this is a team fully capable of ending up in the Final Four. We saw glimpses of that team last Monday, and now Coach K is back to see that vision through the rest of the season.

…Before its road victory at Miami on Wednesday night, Florida State had fallen on some hard times. As I mentioned in this space earlier in the season, this is a rare Leonard Hamilton-coached squad that is not known for its defense. And that was okay during the team’s nonconference season as well as its scorching-hot start to league play. But the ‘Noles were allowing an average of 76.0 points in nine ACC games before their contest against the Hurricanes this past week. Whatever Hamilton said to his team after losing to unranked teams twice after going 5-1 during a stretch against Top 25 opponents worked, as the ‘Canes were stymied in a 75-57 FSU win. It was a much-needed strong effort after very slow starts in back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse.

Started it AND finished it. @jisaac_01 + @fsuhoops = #MustSeeACC

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— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 2, 2017

The Seminoles need more defensive plays like the one featured above from freshman Jonathan Isaac, who had three steals in 25 minutes in the win over Miami. FSU held the ‘Canes scoreless for more than 6.5 minutes in the second half to snap its two-game skid, so there were signs of defensive progress. Again, this isn’t the typical Hamilton-led defensive squad, but clamping down in key moments of games will be crucial for the ‘Noles to be a legitimate contender in March. There is just too much offensive talent in Tallahassee for this team to not be a threat against almost any opponent nationally.

…It didn’t end with the result that head coach Tony Bennett desired, but Virginia was quite impressive in its last-second loss at Villanova on Sunday. The Cavaliers suffered no hangover in the middle of this past week when they battled Virginia Tech, as Isaiah Wilkins scored a career-best 15 points with nine rebounds in a 71-48 win. The strong effort came just days after the squad lost on a tip-in at the buzzer against ‘Nova, and it was the team’s sixth win in the last seven games. The emergence of Wilkins has been big for this team, as he has recorded double figures in scoring in four of the last five contests. He also managed to tie a UVA team record with 12 consecutive made field goals.

All About Isaiah ⚔@isaiahwilkins21 tied a @UVAMensHoops record with 12 consecutive made FGs#MustSeeACC pic.twitter.com/Sfdz3rrho7

— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 2, 2017

Bennett and Co. are starting to see continued improved play from capable young scorers such as Ty Jerome and Wilkins, which is huge. This is an outfit that no team will want to play in the tourney.

…After its scintillating last-second win over Notre Dame a week ago, a game in which the Yellow Jackets won on a Josh Okogie layup at the buzzer, Josh Pastner’s squad came out sluggish offensively and dropped a midweek contest at Clemson. Heading into the road test against the Tigers with a 5-4 mark in ACC play and three wins over Top 15 teams, the 13-8 Jackets had put together a résumé that was certainly in discussion to be considered a legitimate NCAA Tournament bubble team. But as Pastner has said numerous times throughout the season, his team has no margin for error offensively. And those struggles circulated again on Wednesday night against Brad Brownell’s Tigers, which had lost six of their last seven. It was a rough loss to endure, as the Jackets essentially gave back their win over the Irish. Not only is there no margin for error offensively, but there’s no margin for error when it comes to the March Madness bubble. Wake Forest is next for a GT squad that has a manageable slate the rest of the way. A very strong finish is vital for a team that has essentially already overachieved in ’16-17. And while his numbers in conference play aren’t as strong as they were in the noncon portion of the campaign, 6-10 junior Ben Lammers has been—outside of Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell—the most improved player in the ACC. He is averaging 15.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game.

…How competitive has the ACC been this season? Consider that conference bottom-dweller Pitt, at 1-8 in league play, has wins over Virginia, at Big Ten leader Maryland and on a neutral court against Marquette. Kevin Stallings and Co. have often looked like a mess this conference season, but the Panthers also almost just beat UNC last week. Crazy season.

Saturday’s best games

Pitt at No. 21 Duke, 1 p.m. ET, CBS: With Coach K back on the bench, expect the Blue Devils to put on a special performance at home. Pitt has lost seven in a row, as Stallings’ first season with the Panthers has been a rough one to say the least. This is a Pitt team that leaves a lot to be desired defensively, which is bad news against a Duke offense that has been hot the last couple of games. This is an opportunity to show the rest of the ACC that the league title still goes through Durham.

No. 9 Virginia at Syracuse, Noon ET, ESPN2: A week after putting together a very strong performance against Florida State, can the Orange have a repeat Carrier Dome performance against a Virginia squad that blew a second-half lead at Villanova last Sunday? Jim Boeheim’s Orange defeated the Cavaliers in the Elite Eight last season, but this is a different ‘Cuse team. Plus, the Cavs had won three previous matchups against the Orange before that NCAA tournament loss.

*No. 20 Notre Dame at No. 12 North Carolina, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN: Mike Brey’s team has hit a real rough patch, dropping four of its last five contests. And things don’t get any easier with a road trip to face North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat the Irish twice in three attempts in ’15-16, and the Irish will once again be challenged by the UNC frontcourt. ND must limit UNC’s offensive rebounds and second-chance points, which will be tough to do because that is one of the many strengths of the Tar Heels.

*UPDATE: The Notre Dame-UNC game has been moved to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET and will be played in the Greensboro Coliseum because of the water shortage in Chapel Hill.

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