URI’s Marquis Jones, right, battles Duke’s David McClure for a rebound in the second half yesterday.

AP / Sara D. Davis

DURHAM, N.C. — Late in yesterday’s game between URI and Duke, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski had a bad feeling about a good deed he was involved in a couple years ago.

The Duke coach was watching his team battle the Rams yesterday in a barnburner of a game, eventually won by Duke, 82-79, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. As he saw Rhody co-captain Jimmy Baron sink one 3-point basket after another, Krzyzewski had the flashback.

It was about tapes he and one of his assistants, Chris Collins, had sent to URI early in Jimmy Baron’s career. They came at the request of Baron’s father, Jim, the Rhody coach. One of the younger Baron’s role models was the great Duke shooter of several years ago, J.J. Redick.

“We talked to them about what Redick did and they sent us some tapes so Jimmy could see and learn from them,” the elder Baron said.

“Chris [Collins] sent different drills, different tapes of J.J.,” Krzyzewski related. “The tapes are what caused the flashback. I’m thinking, ‘Why the heck did we do that?’ ”

Jimmy Baron put on what might have been his best performance ever yesterday. He tied his career high, set against Brown two years ago, of eight 3-point field goals. Seven of his treys came in the second half, all without a miss, except for a desperation shot at the buzzer. Baron made one from near the Duke logo on the court, about 30 feet from the hoop. He made another from the press table.

Baron got several of the shots off passes, but several others came with his own work off the dribble, showing moves he did not have earlier in his career. Krzyzewski called it one of the great halves any Duke opponent has had at Cameron Indoor.

College hoops shrine

A number of URI fans made it a college basketball dream weekend. They included Jimmy Smith of Woonsocket, a former URI player in the 1960s and a longtime season-ticket holder for Rhody games.

“One of the things I’ve had on my to-do list for a long time was getting to see games at the Dean Dome (at North Carolina) and Cameron Indoor,” Smith said as he stood outside Cameron in 60 degree sunshine, waiting for the doors to open.

Smith, a retired school teacher, and his son, Jonathan, made it a weekend. They watched UNC beat Pennsylvania Saturday night, then spent time in Chapel Hill after the game. “It’s a great place,” Smith said.

They then spent yesterday touring and enjoying the Duke campus.

pkenyon@projo.com