Duke Basketball vs. Carolina: 79-73

At the beginning, this felt like the St John's/Florida St games. It started out bad with Carolina coming out with an 8-0 run. And it didn't get much better with Carolina leading at half time 43-29. Yes, Duke wasn't shooting all that great, but I think Carolina led at the half mainly because Duke's interior defense stunk it up. I was almost resigned to seeing Carolina blow us out in our own building.

What stood out was how Nolan Smith just kept Duke in the game. And the fact that in the final seconds he was able to break away when they were having trouble inbounding the ball and was able to get a dunk. What also stood out was Seth Curry helping push Duke to the lead. Kyle Singler was essentially a non-factor on the offensive end. In fact, when he attempted what would seem an easy put-back, one of the Carolina players just took it out of his hands -- I believe it was John Henson. On the other hand, the announcers mentioned that he was keeping Harrison Barnes in check. Give up some offensive points for some solid defense.

As for the second half, it was a different story. The interior defense tightened up with the Plumlee brothers leading the way. And what is amazing is the fact that they did it by committing only three fouls.

I have to give the most beautiful sequence to Carolina, however. I believe it happened around the 15 minute mark in the second half. One player missed a jumper (I believe). Another player got the offensive rebound and attempted a shot. He missed, but another Carolina player grabbed the rebound and put it in. I'm telling you, it was almost like watching a wonderful trick-basketball sequence.