Columnist Caulton Tudor and UNC beat writer Andrew Carter held a live chat at noon todays about tonight's Duke-UNC matchup. Read a transcript of that chat here.

The Hoops 4 Hope basketball game to honor the life of legendary N.C. State Women's Basketball Coach Kay Yow and raise money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund is this Sunday.

And I've got two tickets to give away to the game.

In addition to the tickets, one reader will win a prize pack that includes:

• a $15 gift card to Goodnights Comedy Club
• a Nike Kay Yow tote bag
• a Kay Yow Love t-shirt
• a breast cancer awareness band
• and a Play4Kay cup.

Oh, and did I mention that American Idol singer Scotty McCreery is scheduled to sing at the game?

WINSTON-SALEM — Following his team’s less-than-aesthetically-pleasing 68-53 victory against Wake Forest, North Carolina coach Roy Williams began his postgame press conference with the kind of smooth execution his team lacked here on Tuesday night.

“You guys smell something burning?” Williams asked.

Someone mumbled that maybe it was popcorn. After a pause, Williams said, “I knew it wasn’t the nets.”

Williams insisted he wasn’t trying to be his own “set-up man” but his one-liner fit after a game in which both teams missed, on average, seven of every 10 shots they took.

Six former North Carolina high school basketball players are among the list of the Greatest McDonald’s All Americans. The list was released in celebration of the 35^th Anniversary of the McDonald’s All American High School Boys Basketball Game.

Updated 7:54 p.m.

DURHAM -- In the dying seconds of Duke’s 76-73 loss to Florida State on Saturday, Austin Rivers drove to the basket on an isolation play and made one the biggest baskets of his fledgling college career to tie the score.

The Duke freshman had the chance to enjoy his heroics for all of 4.9 seconds.

“You hit a shot like that, and then …” Rivers said, reminiscing for a sweet half-second before catching himself.

“Someone got open.”

Michael Snaer was that someone.

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- After North Carolina’s 82-68 victory here against Virginia Tech on Thursday night, Tar Heels junior guard Dexter Strickland walked on his own around the locker room. He did so with a slight limp, and he was hoping the right knee injury he suffered wouldn’t be as serious as he first thought it might be.

Strickland left the game with 16:44 remaining after attempting to drive to the basket. He fell to the court near the baseline, grabbed the back of his right knee and spent about 30 seconds wincing in obvious pain.

DURHAM -- Even as it piled up victories to start the season, Duke generally couldn’t be accused of being a fast starting team in many of its triumphs.

With the exception of their wins over Michigan and Washington, the Blue Devils generally took a bit to get warmed up and dispatch their opponents.

Playing its first game in 11 days, Duke wasted little time Friday night in snuffing out Western Michigan’s hope of an upset. The seventh-ranked Blue Devils (11-1) used an early 19-0 lead to build a substantial lead and cruise to a thorough 110-70 win over the Broncos (5-8) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —  N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said before the Wolfpack's trip to Upstate New York on Tuesday, that he was "crazy" to schedule St. Bonaventure on the road.

Crazy? Maybe but also relieved, and happy, after the Wolfpack escaped with a 67-65 win over a tough Atlantic 10 team. Scott Wood scored 20 points and had a career-high six assists in giving the Wolfpack its first road win of the season.

The Pack improved to 7-4 on the season but not without a fight from the Bonnies (5-5) and major drama.

NEW YORK -- It wasn't an historic game for Duke at Madison Square Garden. It may not prove to be all that memorable, either.

The seventh-ranked Blue Devils squandered much of a big second-half lead Saturday but held on in the end to top the unranked Washington Huskies 86-80 in the Carquest Auto Parts Classic. Not exactly a clunker, but the play often was ragged for both teams, although smoother for both in the second half.

Duke’s Austin Rivers, a shoot-first guard, doesn’t play like his father, now-Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

But here’s a trait they share: Both have a blunt, analytical way of dissecting a loss.

Freshman Austin used the word “embarrassing’’ frequently in describing an 85-63 loss to Ohio State Tuesday night. To Rivers, the Blue Devils didn’t just lose their first game, they lost their identity.