1. It was hard to watch that game and not come away totally impressed with Miami center Reggie Johnson, and flabbergasted he hasn't been that good (or close) on a regular basis. In 35 minutes, Johnson notched 27 points and 12 boards, eight of which were offensive. After the first four minutes, though, Duke's defense on Johnson was very good. With the exception of a couple putbacks, most of Johnson's shots were difficult, contested shots that he made. Duke guard Austin Rivers gave a tip of the cap to Johnson, saying that the Blue Devils took momentum several times and Johnson wrestled it away.

The surprising part: Saturday was the 6-foot-10, 284-pounder's first double-double of the year.

2. It's easy to point the finger at the ranked half and say its flatness caused the loss (and the Devils were undeniable off-key in the first half), but Miami deserves a great deal of credit for the effort it put forth in Durham. The 'Canes have now won four straight, and Jim Larranaga has this club playing its best ball of the season. Cameron was going wild in the second half, and half a dozen times it looked as if Duke was about to take the lead for good. Miami never wilted, even in the face of ten second-half turnovers that helped Duke re-enter itself in the game.

3. Has anyone seen Andre Dawkins? After hitting a 3-pointer with 8:15 remaining in the first half, Dawkins was non-existent. His second-half line: two minutes, zero points, zero assists, zero rebounds, 0-for-2 from the field.