42-39, Duke after an excellent run by Carolina to close the half. Quentin Thomas may not be playing at the level I unrealistically assign to Lawson, but he's doing as well as any other point guard in the ACC. Hansbrough is playing spectacularly, the team as a whole isn't making too many mistakes, and the Duke players are, naturally, all that is wrong with the world today. Even Billy Packer is midly entertaining, if only because one of his verbal ticks tonight is to criticize UNC's defense by insulting Greg Paulus - UNC should know better than to consider him a scoring threat, etc.

Now, I don't know anything about Ty Lawson's status, but picture this. Thomas continues to play at this level, keeping the Heels close or giving them the lead in the second half. And then Lawson enters the game. Duke isn't the shallow team they've been in the last couple of years, but they're still a nine-man team, and this pace wears you down. To face a guy as fast as Lawson who has fresh legs, in the closing minutes? They won't stand a chance.