Days like this warm our winters, reminding us why ACC basketball occupies a special place in our collective life.

Given three games played almost consecutively here in the Triangle on a snowy Saturday, the temptation to go from game to game to game _ watching half the teams of the ACC within a 7-hour span _  was irresistible for a few writers and NBA scouts. What follows are snippets and observations from that journey:

The plan is simple. Start at the Smith Center to watch undefeated and top-ranked North Carolina dismantle struggling Maryland, then head to Durham at halftime to take in Clemson at Duke, which promises to be the best game of the day. Scurry from there to Raleigh to pick up second-half action between Miami and N.C. State at the RBC Center.

The snow that starts falling in early afternoon is a complicating factor, shrouding travel possibilities in uncertainty. (Didn’t some fool write on this site just last week about “snowless winters”?)

Maryland’s performance causes further changes in travel plans.

_ The Terrapins, 11-7 entering the 3:30 PM game, play with poise and discipline from the outset, and lead at halftime, 41-35. They prevent the Tar Heels’ devastating fast breaks by taking good shots and by getting back with alacrity on defense. They force the ACC’s best shooting squad into 35.1 percent accuracy in the opening period.

“I think Carolina runs the best transition in the country,” says Maryland coach Gary Williams, more respected nationally than he is among ACC fans and media types. “If we were going to get beat, they were going to have to do it in their halfcourt offense.”

The Terps are neither bothered by the requisite ear-splitting, dunk-deifying video prior to UNC player introductions, nor by the Danny Green sideline dance that threatens to become a parody of itself, nor by the deafening waves of sound emanating from the nearly packed house as the Heels rally in the second half. Maryland is not particularly bothered by North Carolina’s defense, either, despite recent offensive struggles, and retains command for the majority of the contest.

Maryland’s Williams is more or less a picture of calm on the sidelines, a bit of an upset in itself. The Terps employ as deep a bench as North Carolina, and to similarly positive effect.

Maryland forward James Gist has 22 points and 13 rebounds. A composed leader intent on redeeming a slow start to his senior season, he displays an impressive assortment of turnaround jumpers and flashes into the lane. Creative but erratic sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez has 12 points, 11 assists, and two steals, and generally takes the Heels’ pressure tactics in stride.

Meanwhile Green, Ty Lawson and Marcus Ginyard, who hits his first 3-pointers of the season when left alone in the first half, accumulate four fouls each for North Carolina.

Coach Roy Williams blisters his squad at halftime, and gets the desired response to his verbal lashing. Wayne Ellington helps spark a rally with 10 second-half points. Tyler Hansborough has 13 of his 17 points in the second period, contributing his usual double-double. The Tar Heels lead by 4 points with 2:29 to go, but can’t hold the advantage.

Increasingly, opponents are learning to use Hansbrough’s strength against him. The superlative junior, a force around the boards, persists in attempting to bull through double- and triple-teams on offense rather than relocate the ball to open teammates. Hansbrough fails to record an assist for the seventh time this year; he has 16 in 19 games.

He also tries a number of jumpers and misses 9 of 15 shots, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the 82-80 defeat.

Maryland’s Williams opens his post-game remarks by graciously wishing good health for retired UNC coach Dean Smith, experiencing a difficult recovery from knee replacement surgery. Smith was one of Williams’ coaching inspirations as a Terp player in the mid-60s.

UNC’s Williams focuses on the pain of a first defeat in 19 games this season. Typically, he laments his own failings as a coach, transparent code for criticizing his players. “Well, I haven’t done a very good job with this basketball team the last couple of weeks,” he says. “We’ve been living on the edge, and it caught up with us today.”

Williams speaks of his team’s lack of aggressiveness and effort, of two players giving tired signals while on defense, a cardinal sin in the Carolina catechism. “We shouldn’t play like we did the first half today,” he says. “I don’t know what goes into the psyche of 19, 20, 21 year olds. If I did, I’d never lose.” He pronounces "psyche" without the e, as in psyched out.

Following the game, media members flock to the North Carolina team lounge in a dissecting horde. They cluster around subdued, modestly self-critical players until ushered out by the sports information staff. Off to the side, posted near a computer, is the password: “heelsr#1.” Not anymore.

_ Cameron Indoor Stadium is swelteringly hot, especially for the winter-clad. The action is heated too, as Duke’s perimeter prowess and cloying defense collide with Clemson’s board strength and extended, trapping defensive pressure.

This figured to be the best game of the day because the Tigers nearly defeated UNC at home two weeks ago, and seem ready to assert a claim to top-tier ACC status. Duke, with a single loss in its first 15 games, already has regained its usual prominence, most recently with wins over UVa and Florida State.

Rattling Tiger ball-handlers into 21 turnovers allows the Blue Devils to protect the hole in the middle of their doughnut – a low-post game that is more swarm and effort than muscle and size. Clemson holds a decisive edge on the boards, 20-9 in the first half and 42-26 overall.

Clemson’s Trevor Booker, as good a forward as any in the league, poses particular problems as the teams essentially go stride for stride for the first nine minutes of the second half. Then Duke hits a flurry of threes and forces a wave of consecutive turnovers, converting several into fast break baskets. From a tie at 58 at the 11:03 mark, the Devils seize permanent control, going on a 17-5 run capped by a Kyle Singler 3-pointer.

As usual, miserable foul shooting compounds Clemson’s difficulties. The flaw is so persistent, it is wearing thin as an excuse. The Tigers hit 10 of 23 at the line, deflating chances to take or build leads.

Another stat worth noting: Clemson has now lost 22 straight to Duke, the last victory coming in January 1997 when Rick Barnes was still head coach.

_ An early knockout in Durham allows an early escape to Raleigh, where the snow blows harder than in Durham or Chapel Hill.

Attendance is generously listed at two-thirds of capacity at the RBC Center for the finale of the Triangle tripleheader. Miami, ranked 21st in the nation, arrives fresh from a loss at Boston College in which the physical Eagles dominated inside. The visit provides a chance to measure the mysterious Hurricanes, making their first appearance in North Carolina this season.

N.C. State has looked oddly listless and out of sorts in dropping its first two ACC games. Despite an 11-5 record, there is talk of the season slipping away if the Wolfpack cannot hold service against the orange-clad Canes.

Both teams are prone to slow starts, but the Pack takes control quickly. Sidney Lowe’s squad shoots well, controls its defensive boards, and runs plays with aplomb, recording 10 assists on 12 baskets in building a 36-27 halftime edge. Miami, by contrast, scores either one-on-one or by crashing the boards, with a single assist on 11 baskets. Leading scorer Jack McClinton is missing in action.

In the second half, the mildly engaged crowd boos the announcement that a scheduled Barry Manilow concert has been “cancelled due to increment weather.” Presumably the vocal displeasure is in response to the cancellation, not to the name of the singer. There are cheers when the UNC-Maryland final is shown on the overhead scoreboard.

The complexion of the game changes when McClinton gets hot. He makes 8 of 10 shots in the second half, most on uncontested looks, accounting for 22 of his 26 points. Four of his baskets are 3-pointers, quick daggers that counter Wolfpack thrusts.

When McClinton hits a particularly open jumper to give Miami a 65-64 advantage with 3:31 to go, Lowe calls an immediate timeout. In perhaps the most animated public outburst of his two-year tenure, he angrily confronts his team in the huddle over its lackluster defense.

The defense stiffens a bit, and N.C. State rallies to tie the game at 72-all to force the ACC's ninth overtime game of the season. A jumper by center Anthony King and a pair of free throws by McClinton, a 90 percent shooter from the line, give the Canes a seemingly comfortable 76-72 advantage with 27.1 seconds left.

The lead is not as comfortable as it appears. Courtney Fells, a streaky and not particularly efficient shooter, hits a 3-pointer with 17.7 seconds left to cut the Wolfpack deficit to 76-75.

What follows is a 13-second nightmare for the 6-9 King, a fifth-year senior from Durham. (King’s is not the only homecoming. Clemson’s James Mays is from Garner. Miami’s Jimmy Graham is from Goldsboro, and coach Frank Haith grew up in Burlington.)

King, a 70.6 percent foul shooter as Miami started 14-2, misses the first of two free throws with 15.3 second remaining. He makes the second, pushing the lead to 77-75.

N.C. State's Gavin Grant, whose 3-point play forced overtime, attacks the Miami basket and misfires. Instructed to stay on J.J. Hickson, King misses his boxout. The Pack freshman rebounds Grant’s shot and ties the score at 77 with 3.9 seconds left.

Then King inbounds the ball. Thinking more of speed than caution, King’s pass for McClinton is swiped by Grant, who lays it in with 2.1 seconds remaining. One futile Miami heave later, Grant has his third game-winning score of the year. N.C. State survives, 79-77.

“It was a blur, a dream,” McClinton says of the sudden ending. Paused in the hallway, he is bundled in hooded sweatshirt against both the cold night and the chill of defeat. Asked about the last play, McClinton says: “My stomach sunk. There’s nothing we can do. Just try to pick it up. The ball fell their way, and they got the victory tonight.”

Just down the hall, Hickson sits in a team meeting room and recalls witnessing the final play from fortune's sunny side. “I thought I was dreaming. I thought I was imagining,” he says happily.

Anthony King, fighting tears, slips away from a few reporters and heads to the team bus, sweatshirt hood tightly cinched about his head.