The visiting Blue Demons, ranked 22nd in the nation, outshot, outrebounded and outthought the Blue Devils (5-2) on national television, but couldn’t stop Duke from winning for the 40th straight time in its ancient arena.

DePaul jumped higher than No. 17 Duke, ran faster than Duke and was physically stronger than Duke, but strange things seem to happen in Cameron. The floor does strange things, the rims do strange things and even the referees can be persuaded by the Cameron Crazies to do strange things.

The strangest thing Saturday night was Nick Horvath’s (that’s right Nick Horvath, supposedly the No. 5 member of Duke’s freshman class) game-deciding 3-pointer that hammered in off the glass with 14.6 seconds left in overtime from an angle at which no one has ever intentionally banked a basketball.

“I was ready to shoot if I got it. I was open and I took it,” said the 6-10 Horvath.

“The crazy thing is that Nick really was one of our options on that play,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had inserted the rookie 12 seconds earlier during a timeout. “We just didn’t ask him to bank it. Maybe the gods of Cameron had a hand in it. It’s happened before, you know.”

Duke trailed 83-81 when the confident Horvath screamed at fellow freshman Mike Dunleavy to throw him the ball. Dunleavy complied and Horvath caromed Cameron into wild convulsions of joy.

Duke then survived DePaul’s last possession when Chris Carrawell altered All-American Quentin Richardson’s jump shot and the ball trickled out of bounds with less than one second left.

Krzyzewski, who was matching wits once more with PatKennedy, the former Florida State coach, knew that Duke was lucky to win this one.

“DePaul was a much more athletic team than we were,” Krzyzewski admitted.

And several of the jubilant Duke players offered the opinion that the Demons were the most talented team to visit Durham since the Tar Heel bus drove down from Chapel Hill with Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace on board.

The game started as an absolute disaster for the Blue Devils, who appeared on their way to only their only their third loss in their last 125 games in Cameron against non-ACC opponents.

DePaul was all over Duke, forcing turnovers and pounding the Devils on the boards, where they were helpless against 7-foot Demon freshman Steven Hunter. Horvath got two fouls in barely a minute trying to contain Hunter and was exiled to the bench until Duke got truly desperate in the second half.

Blue Devil fans were barely speaking and the old floor was creaking as DePaul piled up a 17-6 lead eight minutes into the game. Duke youngsters Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer looked intimidated and their other prize freshman, point guard Jason Williams, looked out of control.

Duke’s two leading scorers coming in — senior Chris Carrawell and Williams — combined to shoot 2-for-12 in the first half. Duke did not make a jump shot for 10 minutes, but still went to the locker room down by only 38-36 because of Nate James. The junior forward reached a new career high of 19 in the first half alone and buried two 3-pointers from the deep corner in the half’s final minute to ignite his teammates.

“I looked at our team at halftime and just said, ‘Thank goodness for Nate James,’” said Krzyzewski.

But James got in foul trouble early in the second half as DePaul (4-2), which put all five starters in double figures, spurted again. Three minutes into the second half, Duke was down by 12.

“We were knocked to the floor not once but twice,” said Coach K. “But we got back up. There was amazing intensity out there.”

Williams sank a 3-pointer at the 9:48 mark to tie the game at 56, the first time Duke had been tied since 4-4. Moments later, Duke led for the first time at 61-60 on a James free throw.

Finally, Duke had the momentum and surged ahead 66-60 on a Williams 3 that took a crazy Cameron bounce. His shot bounded high off the rim, but somehow did a backflip and rolled around and around and into the hoop.

“I thought that one was going to touch the ceiling,” said Williams. “I guess I’ve got that shooter’s touch.”

But Duke couldn’t finish the deal. DePaul tied the game at 73-all with 37 seconds left when Bobby Simmons made the second of two foul shots.

The last possession of regulation was not a good one for Duke. Carrawell, who had begun playing well late in the game, called for the ball, but Williams elected to make a move himself. He lost possession in a sea of Demons as time expired.

Duke trailed yet again in the overtime as Richardson nailed a quick 3-pointer, but Shane Battier cut the Duke deficit to one with a shot in the lane that somehow crawled over the rim. Then Simmons split two free throws for a one-point DePaul lead, setting up Horvath’s dramatics.

“This was the most emotional game I’ve ever been a part of,” said Williams, who had 10 assists, 15 points, six steals and nine rebounds and played all 45 minutes.

It was emotional for the Crazies too, who stormed the court as if they’d beaten North Carolina.