What a game!  Not the final score that I predicted, but a win is a win.  It's sweet beating Duke, but beating them on their senior night just makes it all the better!

UNC smothered Duke behind the arc in the first half, and that was key.  Had Duke been in the 40's at halftime this game could have had a different result.  Even though they were able to sink some three's in the second half, the overall defensive effort was at a national championship level.  Danny Green and Deon Thompson were swatting shots away all night.  Roy Williams also tried something new against Duke that I've never really seen him attempt before.  Instead of trying to battle through the screens the Blue Devils were setting, they were switching up on them.  It may have given some awkward matchups (like Hansbrough on Paulus) but they defended very effectively.  Hopefully they keep this practice as I think their quickness and athleticism gets them to the ball a lot quicker than what they were doing before.

Ty Lawson played extremely well.  He's not at 100% quite yet and you can still see a little hesitation here and there, but he made some amazing plays and the reverse layup in the first half was sweet.  He also made a very important steal in the second half, missing the layup in transition but getting help from Danny Green.

What can you say about Tyler Hansbrough?  There were several plays last night that I thought he could have gone to the free throw line for, but still fought down low and hit some key shots.  Wayne Ellington, Green, Deon Thompson, and Quentin Thomas made some key shots and also played extremely well.

Now comes the ACC Tournament.  I actually despise conference tournaments, so if UNC exits at the third round it wouldn't bother me one bit.  Even though I would love to see Duke vs UNC part III, conference tournaments are only a last gasp effort by bubble teams to make the big dance.  Still, UNC can't lose in their frist game or they may be in danger of losing out on the opportunity to get some serious homecourt advantage in the tournament.

I'm starting to believe this team will go all the way now.  And the scary part about it is that they're still not playing at their full potential.