The only thing missing was another five minutes.
"It's the way it should be on a Wednesday night in Cameron in the middle of the ACC season," Mike Krzyzewski said after his Blue Devils outlasted N.C. State in overtime, 92-88, in perhaps the most dramatic of Duke's record-tying 27-straight regular-season conference victories.
Krzyzewski said he could feel a battle like this coming even before the opening tip. As both teams took the floor, he told assistants Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson, who saw their share of ACC wars in the mid '80s, "This is going to be an old-time game like when you guys played."
And it was, if an old-time game means 16 lead changes and almost as many clutch shots, not to mention a stunning comeback and a few controversial calls.
Afterward, no one wanted to dwell on the mistakes, even though there were many-by players (Justin Gainey's Chris Webber impersonation late in regulation) and officials (TV replays showed Marshall Williams' overtime-inducing putback came after time expired). But who cares after a 45-minute battle for first place between two storied programs separated by a half-an-hour drive?
The game only proved that, right now, these are the two best teams in the ACC. That's
When the Blue Devils began that run three years ago, though, N.C. State finished dead last. The college basketball world seems slow to forget the Wolfpack's struggles of recent years; despite a 12-2 record and wins over Purdue, Maryland and Wake Forest, N.C. State still couldn't crack this week's AP poll.
But this team-which can play stingy defense and control the boards, which features a fearless senior in Gainey and two budding superstars in Anthony Grundy and Damien Wilkins-has to be one of the top 25 in the country.
"They have a lot of guys who know what it's like to play [in Cameron], who know what it's like to play Duke," said redshirt junior Nate James, who saw the 1996-97 Wolfpack go 4-12 in the ACC. "It's always tough when teams know how to do that.
"[The change] is all in their attitude. They're coming in with the attitude of 'We're not the N.C. State of old. This is a new year and a new team....' They showed that they've improved, that they're a threat and one of the top teams in the ACC."
Added teammate Shane Battier, "They're probably the most veteran team in the league right now."
Although the Blue Devils are one of the younger teams in the conference, they're still winning-as they did last year, and the year before, and the year before. These days, the victories can be ugly, like against DePaul, when a 6-foot-10 freshman who played just four minutes banked in the game-winning three-pointer.
But now that Duke is 5-0 in the ACC, ranked fifth in the country and riding a 14-game winning streak, it appears these wins can't be a fluke. This team has won close game after close game-including three in OT. The end of regulation last night could've cracked the toughest team, but Duke returned to the court and put together a solid five minutes of basketball.
As James said, "We couldn't be shocked."
And they weren't.
"For us to play the overtime the way we did after what happened is something special," Krzyzewski said. "It's one of the better things I've seen one of my teams do.
"After an emotional downer, for us to come back like that is magnificent."
Battier had a word for the thing that has kept Duke from losing for more than two months. Right now, it's hard to argue with him.
"We have a lot of heart," he said. "Everyone's talking about how young we are, but we have a lot of heart."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.