It was a tough day for Duke's perimeter defenders. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

GREENSBORO—One week ago, Duke turned in a surprising performance. It would have been hard to predict such a dominant showing—a game that was over within the first three minutes—against what was then a hot North Carolina team.

Yesterday, Duke served up another surprise. It would have been hard to predict a worse showing against an NIT-bound Maryland. The Blue Devils made Dez Wells look like an all-American, pressing up on him just so he could beat them with a quick step on his way to the basket and a career-high 30 points.

The perimeter also struggled to keep up with Maryland's passing, as the Terrapins recorded assists on 69.2 percent of their baskets.

So, to state the obvious, Duke's defense—which has not gotten statistically better with Ryan Kelly's return—was awful against the Terrapins. Duke surrendered 1.19 points per possession. To put that into perspective, the Blue Devils gave up 1.15 points per possession in their embarrassing loss at Miami.

Dez Wells had a career day against Duke. Credit: ETHAN HYMAN

GREENSBORO—It took Mike Krzyzewski 93 seconds to realize something wasn’t quite right.

The Duke coach called a quick timeout after two Duke misses and two Maryland baskets in attempt to fix what he saw. But the problems for Duke persisted all 40 minutes, as No. 7 seed Maryland played like a team desperate for an NCAA bid in an 83-74 win.

“They had a sense of urgency today that we didn’t,” Seth Curry said. “Because we knew we had another game to play, I felt like.”

Duke opens up ACC tournament action with a rubber match against Maryland. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. Maryland
When: 7 p.m.
Where:Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, N.C.
TV/RadioESPNU, WKIX-102.9 FM
Talking points: Defensive success: how Duke measures it, and how the Blue Devils stack up according to Ken Pomeroy.

Projected starting lineups

N. 7 Maryland (21-11, 8-10 in the ACC)
G Pe’Shon Howard, 3.3 ppg, 3.7 apg
G Nick Faust, 9.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg
G-F Dez Wells, 12.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg
G-F Jake Layman, 5.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg
C Alex Len, 11.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg

No. 2 Duke (27-4, 14-4)

G Quinn Cook, So., 12.5 ppg, 5.3 apg
G Seth Curry, Sr., 17.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G Tyler Thornton, Jr., 3.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg
F Ryan Kelly, Sr., 14.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg
F Mason Plumlee, Sr., 17.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg

Player to watch:

Seth Curry, Duke

Mike Krzyzewski was right on when he called Mason one of the best in the country in October. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

The postseason will officially be upon us at noon tomorrow, when the first game of the ACC Tournament tips. But before that, there is a bit of time to reflect on the regular season that was.

Ending the regular season with a 27-4 record was a major accomplishment for the Blue Devils. It would not have been unreasonable for them to have accumulated four losses in November alone (look back at the Battle 4 Atlantis field and remember the matchups with Kentucky and Ohio State). But Duke ran the table in the nonconference season and, to borrow a metaphor from Mike Krzyzewski, kept the ship afloat for the 13 games Ryan Kelly missed with his right foot injury.

The main reason for all of this success is two-fold: better defense (Duke ranks 24th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted defensive efficiency ratings, a 46-spot improvement from last year—but more on that Friday), and a better Mason Plumlee.

Duke's Seth Curry enjoyed himself as he hit his first eight shots in the first half at North Carolina. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

With the release of the all-ACC teams, it's officially awards season. On that note, the Sporting News announced their all-America teams, and Duke's Seth Curry was a second-team selection.

Curry, who was also named ACC Player of the Week, ranks third in the ACC with 17.1 points per game and a .435 3-point shooting percentage. He's also second with 2.7 3-pointers per game and fifth with a .810 free throw percentage. Curry has scored at least 20 points in 16 games this season, including 11 of Duke's 18 ACC contests.

Due to a nagging right shin injury, Curry has rarely practiced this year. More on that in this story from last week.

Mason Plumlee is a candidate for ACC Player of the Year. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT

The 2012-13 All-ACC Teams will be released Monday at 1 p.m., and the player and coach of the year will come out Tuesday. As a member of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA), I'm entitled to vote. I spent a while figuring out whether I wanted to vote—you'd probably be surprised how many writers in this area opt not to vote for various reasons. But in the end, I decided to participate in the process. I watch an awful lot of ACC basketball. In fact, I have Maryland vs. Virginia on in the background now.

The two hardest decisions were Player of the Year and the fifth member of the first-team. I made a spreadsheet with the names of 21 sophomores, juniors and seniors (I knew going in that I didn't think any freshmen deserved consideration for the main teams). I looked at a variety of traditional and "advanced" stats: points per game, possessions percentage, offensive rating, field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage, rebounds per game, offensive rebounding percentage, defensive rebounding percentage, assists per game, free throw rate and steals per game. I used Statsheet, the best college hoops statistics site out there. And it's free.

I didn't go strictly by the numbers, but I did use them to gather more information to go along with the observations I've made throughout the year.

The stats I used were through Saturday's games—what happened in Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech and Virginia vs. Maryland wasn't going to change my mind.

Here's the ballot I turned in, followed by explanations:

Tyler Thornton and the rest of the Blue Devils crashed UNC's senior day. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL Well, that was unexpected. Duke thoroughly dominated UNC from the opening tip until the final buzzer, and Andrew Carter details the in between in the game story here. Mason returned to his player of the year form, and—get this—Roy Williams lost for the first time on senior day. Ever. That spans 25 years as a head coach and 10 as an assistant to Dean Smith. Hard to believe, but it's true: Duke hadn't closed out the season with a win in Chapel Hill since 2001, when the Carlos Boozer-less Blue Devils ran all over the Tar Heels.

I'm writing a bigger picture take on what this means for Duke later today, and I'll link it here when it's up. In the meantime, a few quick thoughts I jotted down during the game:

Updated 12:40 a.m.

CHAPEL HILL — Duke’s dominant 69-53 victory against North Carolina here on Saturday night might been expected in the middle of February, when the teams played for the first time in Durham in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Mason Plumlee came alive late in the game when the Tar Heels came to Durham. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke at North Carolina
When: 9 p.m.
Where: The Smith Center, Chapel Hill
TV/Radio: ESPN/WKIX-102.9 FM

Good morning, folks, and welcome to the second installment of the 2012-13 Duke-Carolina rivalry. As usual, there is plenty of pregame reading:

• In September, Mike Krzyzewski got a call saying Seth Curry might miss the whole year. Now in March, Curry isn't just surviving. He's thriving.

• Andrew Carter, our UNC beat writer, with the big-picture look of how UNC and Duke have arrived just one game apart in the ACC standings.

• My take on UNC's small lineup: no one, not C.J. Leslie and not Alex Len, has taken advantage of the mismatch. Duke needs Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee to be the first to do so.

• Luke DeCock with a closer look at the two critical freshmen, Rasheed Sulaimon and Marcus Paige

And now a full breakdown of the matchups:

Tale of the tape:

POINT GUARD: Marcus Paige vs. Quinn Cook

Mike Krzyzewski has opted to focus on the positives with the media this season. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT

Every Saturday, the News & Observer takes a look around the ACC. That also provides an opportunity to check in with the Blue Devils and look for any emerging trends.

After capping off a perfect home record with a sometimes-ugly 85-57 win over last-place Virginia Tech, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked if he was satisfied with his team as postseason play awaits.

“We’re ecstatic about it,” Krzyzewski said.