We had that game, but Nolan Smith and Seth Curry would not let the Heels keep it. That stinks.
Carolina got a little tentative in the second half, a not uncommon occurrence for a young team, and lost some of our offensive confidence.
Tyler Zeller was the loan exception; he was tough throughout the game.
But Bullock, McDonald and even Henson (10 scintillating points in the first; only 4 in the second) looked tentative in the final 20 minutes of the game, and Strickland's foul trouble hurt us offensively by taking away his aggressiveness, and defensively where he could not aggressively cover Smith.
Marshall's first half was phenomenal, but he seemed to run out gas with 10 minutes left.
Barnes and Singler seemingly expended all their energy on covering each other defensively, as neither had much of a game. Barnes had trouble getting off a shot in the second half.
The tentativeness was evident on the boards and on defense, too, and that let Duke score 50 points in the second half.
Obviously frustrating; the Heels played hard but we just missed shots. The offense was generating good looks; we just could not hit them late - and Smith and Curry did.
We're past moral victories with this team. They are rolling, despite the final score and the last 20 minutes, and have restored the luster to Carolina basketball. Time to regroup, and hit shots in Littlejohn this weekend in our rematch with Clemson.
One final thought on tonight's loss - it kind of reminds me of the 2005 game in Cameron, the one that ended with Felton dribbling too long then having Noel lose his dribble as time expired. Different plays but the same feel; that we let Duke off the hook once but will not let it happen again, or let one loss stop the team from having a great season.
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