For about 30 minutes on Wednesday night, the ASU men’s basketball team gave No. 7 Duke all it could handle at Madison Square Garden.

The problem came in the final 10 minutes.

The Sun Devils went cold in the second half and connected on just two field goals in the final 10:30 of the game, and Duke pulled away with a key 15-4 run that led the Blue Devils to a 64-53 victory in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

ASU (4-1) jumped out to an early 15-7 lead thanks to the hot start of freshman guard Trent Lockett. Starting with a thunderous dunk, Lockett scored 11 points in the first five minutes of the game to give ASU the lead.

Duke (5-0) responded with an 11-3 run that was capped by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Andre Dawkins to even the score at 18-18.

After ASU regained a two-point lead, Lockett picked up his third foul that sent him to the bench for the rest of the half.

With ASU leading 30-28 with 2:35 to play in the first half, Duke closed the first half on a 6-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer to end the half by senior guard Jon Scheyer, to gain a 34-30 advantage at the break.

The Blue Devils’ run to end the half would prove big, as ASU would not regain the lead the rest of the way.

Much of the Sun Devils’ second-half troubles were because Lockett was on the bench in foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul with 18:21 to play and didn’t return to the floor until Duke had the game in hand.

Duke extended its lead to 50-43 with a 9-2 run, but a three-point play by ASU junior forward Rihards Kuksiks with 10:43 to play cut the deficit to just five.

But then the Sun Devils went cold — ice cold.

After Kuksiks’ layup to start the three point play, ASU went 6:27 without another field goal, and Duke stretched its lead from five to 14 during that stretch.

In all, ASU had just six field goals in the second half and just two in the final 13:56 of the game.

Lockett and senior guard Derek Glasser led ASU with 13 points each, but Lockett had just two points in the final 35 minutes of the game due to his foul trouble. Kuksiks added 12 points for the Sun Devils.

Scheyer led Duke with 16 points, while junior guard Nolan Smith had 14 and junior forward Kyle Singler added 13.

The Sun Devils will next face LSU in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at 12:30 p.m. on Friday at Madison Square Garden. The Tigers were routed 81-55 by No. 13 Connecticut in the first semifinal game on Wednesday night.