NEW YORK -- The burden of being the West’s best must have been a bit much for Gonzaga in the first half.

The pigpen-like cloud that hovers over teams from the West continued Saturday in the first 20 minutes against Duke. The Blue Devils led Gonzaga 31-17 at the break.

Gonzaga did not look close to the team that nearly upstaged Michigan State in early November and then went on to win the Maui Invitational.

Duke isn’t exactly scorching the nets either, but the Blue Devils rarely suffer the type of complete mental breakdowns the Zags are conducting Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

The Zags couldn’t generate much offense at all in the first half. Gonzaga was a woeful 7-of-28 from the field, missed all five 3s attempted and committed 13 sloppy turnovers.

Gonzaga star Matt Bouldin symbolized the Zags’ futility when he got a five-second call with Nolan Smith defending him by dribbling around at the top of the perimeter without much purpose in the final dozen seconds.

German national Elias Harris, who came in with plenty of hype, could not have looked more lost, going 0-for-6 and committing two turnovers. Steven Gray was just as off, going 0-for-4. The misses were wide left and right and short.

Meanwhile, the Blue Devils grew a lead by being efficient and not trying to do too much. Duke didn’t connect on a 3 in six attempts and star Kyle Singler was somewhat of a non-factor, going 1-of-5 from the field. But Smith was aggressive in seeking the basket, making 4 of 8 shots, while Jon Scheyer did what he he does best: get to the free throw line and make shots. He was 8-of-9.

Gonzaga still has a brutal slate ahead with Illinois in Chicago, Oklahoma in Spokane and a slugfest to begin WCC play with road games at Portland, Saint Mary’s and San Diego. To differentiate itself, the Zags could have used a quality neutral/road win.

They have a shot because Duke isn’t making 3s, but they better find some sort of offensive rhythm and take care of the basketball in the second if they want to avoid a wasteful trip to the East.