Former Duke coach Pete Gaudet, seen here in 1996, now teaches at Ohio State. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Occasionally, former Duke coach Pete Gaudet will hear a comment that causes him to pause.

“Someone will say to you, ‘hey, I saw you on TV last night,’ and then I say, ‘No, no I was home with my wife last night,” Gaudet said. “And they say, ‘Oh no, no they were replaying a game.’”

Mason Plumlee scored three of Duke's final four points in a 62-61 win at Boston College. Credit: MARY SCHWALM/AP

Monday morning update: A few people have asked me why Duke stayed on the court so long after the game. The Blue Devils were headed toward their locker room, but when the Boston College band started playing the school's alma mater, they paused, right behind the line of Eagles. Once the band was done, Duke left the court.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—With 2:30 left in the game, Duke was down by three, and Mike Krzyzewski gathered his team in the huddle.

“We had a timeout and told our guys don’t panic,” he said. “Don’t do crazy things and take crazy shots and that.”

The Blue Devils didn’t panic, and they ended the game with 4 straight defensive stops to seal a 62-61 victory. More on that in the game story.

A few more thoughts:

***When Seth Curry hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Duke in the second half, he moved into first place on a particular all-time scoring list.

Seth Curry started strong for Duke, scoring 11 of the team's first 30 points. Credit: MARY SCHWALM/AP

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—To have a great season, Mike Krzyzewski said, a team has to fight human nature. The Blue Devils were coming off a big win against N.C. State, a blizzard delayed their arrival to Boston, and games against Carolina and Maryland loom next week. In simplest terms, Duke’s game at Boston College was a trap game.

And the Blue Devils came oh-so-close to being trapped.

But thanks to a last-second defensive stand that drew from the pregame scouting report, the Blue Devils escaped a hostile Conte Forum with a 62-61 victory.

“It just shows that we’re tough and together,” Seth Curry said. “Last year’s team definitely would not have won this type of game. We fought hard. Nobody really got down, nobody really panicked when we were down five toward the end of the game. We just made plays and shared the ball and got shots.”

After 24.9 inches of snow, the greater Boston area is back up and running, just in time for Duke's game at Boston College. Credit: Laura Keeley

Duke vs. Boston College
When: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
TV/Radio: ESPNU/WKIX-102.9 FM
And? The toughest part of the Duke-Carolina hoopla? Preparing for the game before it.

Projected starting lineups:

No. 4 Duke (10-2, 7-2 in the ACC)

G Quinn Cook, So., 11.9 ppg, 6.1 apg
G Seth Curry, Sr., 16.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg
G Rasheed Sulaimon, Fr., 11.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
F Amile Jefferson, Fr., 4.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F Mason Plumlee, Sr., 18.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg

Boston College (10-12, 2-7)

G Joe Rahon, Fr., 10.3 ppg, 3.6 apg
G Olivier Hanlon, Fr., 13.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg
G Lonnie Jackson, So., 10.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F Ryan Anderson, So., 16.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg
F Eddie Odio, So., 3.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg

Player to watch:

Duke has run out to big early leads in its past two games.

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.

Programming note: I am in Boston this morning. Click here, here and here if you want to see a few pictures from the ground. Claps for the city workers that have been clearing the roads all night. Anyway, on to the main event...

During the Blue Devils’ early season string of dominance, when they were 15-0, fully healthy and on top of the polls, one of the few valid criticisms of the group was that they tended to start games slow.

But lately, Duke’s current set of players, which is without Ryan Kelly due to his right foot injury, have been starting strong. At Florida State, Duke opened on an 18-2 run, hitting eight of their first 10 shots while limiting the Seminoles to 1-of-8 shooting in that same span.

Three Points from N.C. State's 98-85 loss at Duke:

1) Defending the 3

Duke made 10 3-pointers in the first half, four more than it had in the entire first game against N.C. State. Seth Curry and Quinn Cook made four 3-pointers each and Rasheed Sulaimon added two.

Duke outscored N.C. State 30-3 from the 3-point line in the first half to take a 58-37 lead. Of the 10 3s, on 17 attempts, nine came at the expense of one of N.C State's three freshmen on defense, seven were uncontested and two were in transition.

As N.C. State forward Richard Howell noted, and prefaced with a Samuel L. Jackson-type expletive, "They couldn't miss."

Scottie Montgomery, one of the best Duke wide receivers in school history, is returning to his alma mater.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported that Montgomery, who has coach wide receivers for the Pitttsburgh Steelers since 2010, was leaving Mike Tomlin's staff. Before joining the Steelers, Montgomery coached at Duke from 2006-09 and was retained when David Cutcliffe took over in Dec. 2007.

During his coaching career at Duke, Montgomery was also one of the Blue Devils' most effective recruiters, landing players like Donovan Varner, Josh Snead, Desmond Scott and Conner Vernon, who finished his college career as the the ACC's leader in pass receptions and receiving yardage.

Some Duke fans taunted N.C. State freshman Tyler Lewis about his late grandmother in Thursday's game, Lewis' father said Friday.

Lewis went to the foul line at 13:47 in the second half of Thursday's loss at Duke. Most fans in the Duke student section chanted, "Past your bed time," a playful jab at Lewis' youthful appearance.

Other Duke fans, according to Rick Lewis, chanted "How's your grandma?" Margie Lewis, Rick's mom and Tyler's grandmother, passed away on Feb. 1. Rick Lewis was at Thursday's game, sitting behind N.C. State's bench.

Tyler Lewis was a target of the Cameron Crazies, who chanted "Bilbo Baggins" and "Past your bedtime" at him Thursday night.

DURHAM—After beating N.C. State Thursday night, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said that he doesn't really do revenge games, and for good reason.

"If you’re always playing revenge that means you’ve lost," he said. "I don’t want to play many revenge games. You’ve got to learn to play because you want to win and you want to get better. Tonight, we did that."

Mason Plumlee and Duke got the better of C.J. Leslie and N.C. State in the rematch of the Triangle's two best teams. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—The first time Duke faced N.C. State, the Blue Devils were beginning their search for a new offensive identity.

It was clear Thursday night that they have found it, especially least early in the game, as the first-half cushion they built didn’t ran out in a 98-85 win. But the Wolfpack came close late in the game, making Duke work until the final minute.

“I don’t know how you couldn’t be proud of both teams tonight,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That was great ACC basketball.”

Each team traded outstanding shooting halves, as Duke shot 61.3 percent from the field in the first half and led 58-37. N.C. State responded with a 65.5 percent performance to make the game interesting late.