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

James Michael McAdoo got up close and personal with the Cameron Crazies as he threw an inbounds pass. Credit: ROBERT WILLETT

Over the past 48 hours, lots of ink has been spilled and cyberspace filled with coverage and analysis of Duke's 73-68 win over UNC. In case you missed any of it, here's a rundown...

James Michael McAdoo was able to limit Mason Plumlee offensively. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

There’s no sugarcoating it: Mason Plumlee played awful—a-w-f-u-l—in the first half of Duke's 73-68 win over UNC. To his credit, though, he was much more efficient down the stretch in the second as he stopped turning the ball over and made four key free throws in the final 2:30 of the game. By the end of the game, he had recorded a double-double, with 18 points (tied for the team-high) and 11 rebounds. But let’s take a closer look:

There’s no sugarcoating it: Mason Plumlee played awful—a-w-f-u-l—in the first half. To his credit, though, he was much more efficient down the stretch in the second as he stopped turning the ball over and made four key free throws in the final 2:30 of the game. Let’s take a closer look:

A few big plays from Tyler Thornton were key in Duke's comeback win over North Carolina. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—It wasn’t pretty. But it was a win over an archrival, and it came in the midst of perhaps Duke’s most hectic week of the year (snow-delayed travel to BC, UNC Wed. and then a trip to a sure-to-be hostile Maryland arena on Sat.). A look back at Duke’s 73-68 win, with a breakdown of several key segments of the game.

The opening

***No matter what the coaches say, the Duke-Carolina game is more than just a game (Jeff Capel also agreed with that, as stated in the preview). Add Mason Plumlee to the list of people willing to publicly agree to that thought, too

“This game is so different than any other game,” he said. You have chills before the game. It’s crazy, so you almost have to catch your breath after that first wind and just kind of settle in to the game.”

Much has changed for both Mason Plumlee and James Michael McAdoo since last year's matchup. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. North Carolina
When: 9 p.m.
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
TV/Radio: ESPN/WKIX-102.9 FM

Plenty of pregame reading...

***It's not every year that there is such a clear mismatch on paper. But one of those years, 1995, produced one heck of a game, 102-100 in 2 OT, and one heck of a shot from Jeff Capel. A look back at that here.

***And speaking of memories, here are a whole bunch of current and former Duke and UNC players sharing some.

***Today is Mike Krzyzewski's 66th birthday. Here's a look at how he has historically faired on his big day.

Enough reminiscing, though.

So why is UNC unranked? < href="http://bit.ly/WYP2ZA">Our Tar Heels beat reporter, Andrew Carter, breaks it down here. But it's not all bad for Carolina. Yesterday at his press conference, Mike Krzyzewski highlighted two things that UNC does well: transition offense and offensive rebounding.

Duke-Carolina is a classic rivalry, but would you rather see a potential top-3 matchup with Miami? Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

It's been a strange year for college basketball. There's about a dozen teams that could win the national title. Scoring is down, on track to be the lowest its been in 60 years. And in the ACC, the best team isn't Duke or North Carolina. It's not N.C. State either.

It's the Miami Hurricanes.

By beating UNC 87-61, the Hurricanes became the first ACC team to ever beat both Duke and the Tar Heels by at least 25 points in the same season. And Monday, the AP voters ranked Miami No. 3, an all-time high for the program. If both the Hurricanes and the No. 2 Blue Devils win all their games between now and March 2—certainly not impossible—then it will be top-three matchup in Durham. And if Indiana loses in the interim (road games at No. 8 Michigan State and Minnesota loom), than it could be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 affair.

That got me thinking: If you could have you tickets to Duke vs. UNC Wednesday or Duke vs. Miami on March 2, which would you choose? The Duke-Carolina rivalry is, obviously, legendary, but it's a down year for the Tar Heels. And, besides the Hurricanes' high ranking, there is the floor-slapping incident from the last game that didn't sit well with the Blue Devils.

One Winter 2007 morning, David Cutcliffe saw the potential in Duke football. Saturday, everyone saw it, too. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

While the Blue Devils (and this blog) have already turned their attention to next Saturday's game at Florida State, here's one more post on Duke's bowl-clinching win over North Carolina.

First, if you haven't read Luke DeCock's two columns, one from Saturday night and one today on what the win means to recent Duke football alumni, check those out.

I wrote a story for today's paper detailing the beginning of Duke's trek to six wins. The origins date back to the wee hours of one 2007 winter morning, when David Cutcliffe sat alone in an empty Wallace Wade Stadium. After his peaceful moment, he went through his scheduled interviews and was eventually offered the Duke head coaching job. The rest is history.

Emotions were obviously running high in the aftermath of the 33-30 win over UNC. But which emotions? After the game, Cutcliffe was asked if finally earning win No. 6 took a burden off the team.

"It’s only natural that that’s what everybody around them was talking to them about because of the length of time we have not been in a bowl game," Cutcliffe said about his players. "I would be naïve to not think they weren’t hearing that everywhere they go. That’s a great thing. I saw it in the senior’s faces particularly, to have it behind you. What I expect is that there is a burden gone, but there’s a hunger that needs to be created that’s greater." 

If you have access to a replay of the game, look closely at Sean Renfree's face on the sideline after he throws the game-winning touchdown pass. You'll see tears.