Nolan Smith's Career Night Rallies Duke Over North Carolina

Seth Curry made his first Duke-Carolina game one to remember. Nolan Smith made his last one at Cameron one no one would forget.

And that was just the second half.

Curry scored 22 points, Smith led both teams with 34, and the duo combined for 41 in the final 20 minutes as the Blue Devils rallied past North Carolina in a second-half surge, ousting the rival Heels 79-73 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

What a way to say goodbye, Nolan Smith.

The senior's 34 points marked a career high in his final home game against North Carolina.

Duke needed almost every one of them.

The Blue Devils fell behind 8-0 in the game's opening minutes and trailed by as many as 16 points with 32 seconds to play in the first half. The Tar Heels controlled the paint and kept Duke off balance with its high-speed transition offense and an array of nifty passes from freshman point guard Kendall Marshall.

The final 20 minutes belonged to Duke and its backcourt combo of Smith and Seth Curry, who sat out last year's game after transferring from Liberty.

The Blue Devils opened the second half with a pair of four-point possessions, including 3-pointers from -- guess who -- Curry and Smith. A Curry pump fake and jumper tied the game at 54 with 9:48 to play and Duke its first lead on a Ryan Kelly 3-pointer at 57-55 34 seconds later.

The Blue Devils would never trail again as Smith and Curry scored 41 of the team's 50 second-half points.

Tyler Zeller lead North Carolina with 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Heels badly outplayed Duke's interior. Forward John Henson added 12 points and 10 rebounds despite picking up a third foul early in the second half.

Harrison Barnes, the heavily hyped freshman who picked North Carolina over Duke on the recruiting trail last season, scored just nine points in his first visit to Cameron, blanked by Blue Devil star Kyle Singler. Marshall added six assists and committed just one turnover in his first visit to the Blue Devils' chaotic home arena.

Duke overcame an awful shooting night from Singler. The senior co-captain hit just 3-of-17 from the floor and was frustrated by Barnes' defense and North Carolina's interior size.

But in the end, it was all Smith, whose breakout dunk put an exclamation point on the game with 15 seconds to play and staked Duke to a six-point lead.

How It Was Won: Smith and Curry. On a night where Kyle Singler looked like he was shooting at a basket the size of a golf cup, his senior co-captain and the player who said all along he might've been the most excited to play in this game each picked up the slack. Smith wasn't quite on in the first half, hitting 5-of-12 shots in the first half, but he connected for 8-of-11 in the second and found his way into the paint, the key to Duke's drive-and-kick offense. Curry filled in as the team's third scorer and gave Duke the lift it needed in the second half in an offensive effort reminiscent of last year's Elite Eight win over Baylor.

Credit Mike Krzyzewski as well. Duke's decision to force the freshman Kendall Marshall to shoot worked (He went 3-of-11 in an otherwise fine game) and the team slowed down North Carolina's transition game in the second half. Doubling Tyler Zeller and John Henson in the post slowed the Heels' offense. And more made baskets by Curry and Smith kept the Heels' running game in neutral.

How It Was Lost: North Carolina's depth. The Tar Heels still aren't a great 3-point shooting team (2-14), but it might have been who they were missing rather than what they couldn't do that proved most problematic. (North Carolina lost frontcourt players Ed Davis to the NBA draft, David and Travis Wear to transfer and guard-forward Will Graves because of team rules violations; reserve point guard Larry Drew II left Friday). The Heels played a far improved game from last year's 82-50 laugher, but couldn't hold on down the stretch. Forward John Henson seemed tentative with three fouls in the second half and the minutes Marshall did sit out in the second half coincided with Duke's push to tie the game. Overall, North Carolina didn't so much lose as not win.

What It Means: Duke takes sole possession of first place in the ACC while North Carolina sits alone in second. Only Florida State, who the Heels routed Sunday, are within a game in the loss column of North Carolina, likely setting up another Duke, North Carolina 1-2 finish in the ACC. Stop us when you've heard that a time or two dozen.