Duke Shows It's Built for March Success in Edging UNC in Revealing Thriller

The game that North Carolina delivered on a silver platter will go down as yet another thriller in this great rivalry.

It'll go down as a great Duke comeback. And it was. It'll go down as a Tar Heel collapse. And it was. It could go down, depending on how March (and April) plays out, as one of those moments when you knew that Duke lived for the moment.

Was built for the moment.

"I love my team," Mike Krzyzewski said after his young guys rallied from seven points down, forced overtime and won 92-90. "They were real men down the stretch."

This is what we've come to know (and expect) of this bunch that Coach K has brought together for what will likely be just one run. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils have a ton of talent and the best player in the country in Jahlil Okafor, but it's their ability to calm the waters in the most pressure-packed situations that suggests something special could take place in the next two months.

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No further proof is needed after the two comebacks they've put together that have bookended this six-game winning streak.

First was the come-from-behind win at second-ranked Virginia, with the Blue Devils playing perfect ball down the stretch against a team that messes up as often as it snows in the desert. Duke scored on 13 of its final 14 possessions that night.

Wednesday night's comeback against North Carolina wasn't quite as perfect, but it said so much about both teams.

When it was winning time, the Blue Devils had multiple guys who wanted to make plays.

The Tar Heels had Marcus Paige and a bunch of guys nervously scarfing down popcorn, hoping their hero would save them.

Paige was off his game, and this isn't on him, but more so on Roy Williams for putting the contest in his hands when it clearly wasn't his night—he went 2-of-11 from the field—and not empowering another Tar Heel.

On the other side, Duke had no shortage of heroes. 

Okafor played through an ankle injury and was unguardable in overtime. (Why didn't UNC double-team him?)

Quinn Cook made timely shots all night, none bigger than his contested runner off the glass in overtime that gave Duke a temporary lead.

And then there was Tyus Jones.

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The freshman point guard has been at his best in big games—showing it early in the win at Wisconsin—and he seems to take his game to another level in clutch moments.

	Points	Assists
at Wisconsin	22	4
vs. Connecticut	21	3
at St. John's	22	6
at Virginia	17	4
vs. UNC	22	8

His heartbeat was calm on this night, putting together a cool 22 points, eight assists and some grown-man finishes that allowed Duke to even get to OT.

"You've got to try to stay level," Jones told ESPN's Shannon Spake after the game. "You've got to try to stay level and finish the whole game."

Those are words the Heels could use after what's happened to them over the past few weeks. An 18-point lead going down the drain at Louisville was a big blow to their confidence, and a win at Cameron would have been exactly what they needed.

This is a team that can look great when the game is going up and down at a quick tempo, as it was for much of the night on Wednesday, but when it comes time to execute in the half court down the stretch, UNC goes to Paige without a second option on the menu.

It would have served the Heels well for someone other than Paige to want to take the shot to win the game. Why not go inside to Kennedy Meeks, who had scored 18 points and missed just two shots all night?

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Instead, at the end of regulation, Paige heaved a prayer from distance that didn't have much of a chance. And on UNC's second-to-last possession in OT when Paige couldn't get a look, the rest of the Heels panicked and J.P. Tokoto ended up taking an uncomfortable shot from the corner. 

That inability to find another guy to make a play—or an outside shot—is why the Heels haven't quite lived up to preseason expectations. Maybe that'll come next season when most of the team will likely return, but it hasn't happened yet this year. 

As for next season, most of the current Blue Devils will likely be gone by then. Their shot is this year. They may have their flaws on defense. They may not be the best team. 

But if they make it to the season's final weekend and the game is close, I wouldn't bet against Jones and these live-for-the-moment Blue Devils. 

Because if you're going to knock them out, you better go for the TKO early.

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @CJMooreBR.