For Kyrie Irving’s talent, it’s never easy to integrate a player back onto a basketball team, especially a great one. Duke had to gamble and play him – without Irving, the Devils weren’t on a trajectory to win a national title.

But Thursday’s loss to Arizona was an example of how tough this transition can be. Irving was very good, but Nolan Smith was rarely anywhere to be seen. Halfway through the second half you found yourself thinking, Where is Smith?

Smith just wasn’t the same dominant player at all. When Arizona pushed out to its 66-55 lead on a run that proved decisive, Smith tried to strike back with a critical 3-point shot.  But it missed, and he dropped to 2 of 9 from the field – with only four points.

Irving, at the time, had 18.

Duke kept trying to get back in this. At 77-64, you thought Duke might have one more run. On a fastbreak, Smith had the ball and drove the basket, but a Wildcat was right there. Smith slid to the left, and ACC fans have seen him score that way dozens of times before. But this time, the ball just grazed the rim and fell out.

On Duke’s next possession, Irving drove the lane and shot, as if it was all up to him. It wasn’t, but it seemed that way. The fluid, precise Duke team we’d seen all season was missing. It was almost as if the Blue Devils players were on the court wondering who was in charge.

Arizona deserves credit for an amazing performance. If the world didn’t know what a great job Sean Miller was doing before this, it does now. Some media outlets are hinting that Miller will at least listen to N.C. State, but come on, we know how that works. You listen, make a head fake to Raleigh, and get a half million dollar raise.

Miller would be a marvelous fit in Wolfpack red, but State’s chance to get him was 2009, when he was wrapping up a brilliant five-year run at Xavier. It’s too bad that didn’t work out. Watching Miller work Tobacco Road on a regular basis would have been fascinating.

Kyrie Irving had a huge smile in Friday night’s game for Duke, and for good reason. Irving had not played since injurying his toe in December, a time when the Blue Devils looked like the team to beat in college basketball this season.

Now, they are again.

Duke has a chance to win rare back-to-back titles, and another title run would stamp this as a special time in Blue Devils history. Only the Laettner-Hurley-Hill teams won back-to-back title for Duke. Florida did it in 2006 and 2007, making the Devils and Gators the only two-straight winners since UCLA’s streak of seven straight ended in 1973.

Steve Wiseman of The Durham Herald-Sun reported that Irving played in a pick-up game with his teammates Monday and did well. On Wednesday night, there were phone calls between Irving and his father, Drederick, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the medical staff.

“It was a collective decision after numerous conversations involving us three, the physical therapist and trainer,” Drederick Irving told The Herald-Sun Thursday.

The Devils will need Irving as the tournament unfolds. Although they won the ACC title without him, there are plenty of teams out there capable of unseating Duke without Irving on the floor.

Duke often seems to get favorable draws in NCAA play, but that wasn’t the case this season. The 87-45 win over Hampton was easy enough, but the field gets tougher from here. The Blue Devils face name schools with talented coaches, which often makes a difference in NCAA play.

Michigan, for example, is only 21-13 and was 9-9 in Big Ten play, but the Wolverines have John Beilein on the sidelines and shouldn’t be intimidated. After that, Duke wil face Arizona or Texas and then possibly UConn for the berth in the Final Four.

Ohio State, not Duke, was the betting favorite at first to win the NCAA title. But everything has to be recalibrated now that Irving is back. He had 14 points, making 4 of 8 shots, in 20 minutes of play against Hampton, and you can bet those minutes will go up as the tournament progresses and the opponents get tougher.