WRAL's Dane Huffman is at the Smith Center for tonight's game and is filing a live blog for WRAL.com.

11:23 p.m.: OK, game just ended, and Duke won, 89-78. Have to be impressed by the Devils in this one. Much more coming on WRAL and WRAL.com tonight - stay with us.
11:14 p.m.: One of UNC's problems tonight has been free throws. And Quentin Thomas just missed two with Duke ahead, 86-78.

11:11 p.m.: Can Duke hang on? Can Carolina pull this out? The Heels just got a huge play - after Hansbrough couldn't score inside, Greg Paulus had the ball and tried to throw it across court. But Wayne Ellington grabbed it and passed to Danny green for a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to play.
83-78 Duke.
11:04p.m.: Duke is going to its semi-stall, which is interesting. Seems like the Devils do that when they are feeling confident.
Wayne Ellington just missed a shot from the top of the key, and was wide open, but his shooting struggles continued. Right now, it's 82-73 Duke.

10:59 p.m.: Whew, Hansbrough just scored on a feed from Quentin Thomas but Carolina couldn't get a big basket it needed when Wayne Ellington missed a three-pointer that refused to go in.
He just missed a three-pointer that hit the inside of the rim three times, kicked against the backboard and then rolled off the rim.
Wow.
He just can't get a shot to go down.
Meanwhile, Duke's wing guards have been brilliant. Jon Scheyer has looked comfortable on the floor all night and has scored, rebounded and nabbed assists.
And Gerald Henderson has been marvelous, with an amazing number of athletic moves that includes dunks and blocks.
10:49 p.m.: What's interesting about this game, as it has unfolds is how muchmore talent Duke has on the floor compared to Carolina. The Tar Heels have the All-America in Tyler Hansbrough but Duke just has eye-popping athletes in Gerald Henderson and DeMarcus Nelson and strong players around them in Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus.
Scheyer and Singler have looked confident throughout this game. it's 76-68 now, but Duke, frm watching all this, is clearly the superior team so far.
10:41 p.m.: Tyler Hansbrough has been terrific in this game, but Carolina has struggled to get him the ball for long stretches.
Given Wayne Ellington's struggles to score in this contest, Carolina has had to rest its offense on Hansbrogh's shoulders.
But even his stellar play hasn't been enough for Carolina, which is down 68-62 with 7:04.
10:18 p.m.: The pace of the game has picked up tremendously. It's 51-47 Duke now in the second half with Carolina trying to make a run in the second half.
About 17 minutes left in the game.
By the way, just saw former N.C. State great Chris Corchiani on the concourse at halftime. He had a big Tar Heel sticker on his - oh, just kidding, gang.
No, he's hear taking in the game and checking out the atmosphere.
Basically, what we talked about briefly in a swirl of people zooming by is how different UNC looks without Lawson on the floor.
9:57 p.m.: Carolina needed something good to happen, and got it.
And who do you think would spark that?
Oh, one guess.
Trailing late in the second half, Carolina started funnelling the ball into Tyler Hansbrough and he converted on some tough baskets to pull the Heels in striking distance.
Three straight baskets, helped in part by a good feed from Marcus Ginyard and another from Quentin Thomas.
Helped by that spurt, it's now 42-39 Duke at the half. Hansbrough has 18 points in the first half, by the way.
Ginyard had a decent half as the backup point guard and he has seven points at halftime.
9:46 p.m. This game has taken on a decidedly Duke tone, and you can feel it sitting in the Smith Center stands.
The media contingent for this game was enormous - heck, I had to drive over to the Smith Center today and plead for more passes for WRAL - and one of the spots for WRAL is actually in Section 132, Row V, Seat 5.
So that's where I'm sitting, in the lower bowl about two thirds of the way up. I was going just sell the ticket on eBay and take a week's vacation but then thought, no, that might not be such a great career move.
Being in the stands, as opposed to being in the press areas, does have its advantages.
For one, you can sense how this game is getting away from Carolina by the tone of fans around. And one of the great joys of covering sports in this market is fans here really understand the game.
One behind me was just bemoaning Carolina's inability to score, an obvious problem related to the Heels' lack of Ty Lawson. The score is 42-31 right now - with Gerald Henderson at the line and getting a polite round of boos and a cheer for his first miss.
And a bigger one for his second miss. that's interesting.
But fans understand what's happening on the court. With Wayne Ellington doing little against Duke's defense, one screamed, "Come on, Wayne! GET IN THE GAME!"
But the angst among Carolina fans is palpable. Right now, Duke looks fresher, faster and more confident.
By the way, Carolina just struggled to throw an inbounds pass, threw it way deep to Quentin Thomas, and he stepped out of bounds.
9:28 p.m.: It’s 18-18 now, Ginyard looked comfortable at point guard when Thomas was out.
A couple of interesting story lines:
Quentin Thomas has played in control. Hasn’t done anything special, but has looked OK. Of course, he’s not Tywon Lawson, but he isn’t playing like he did as a freshman, either.
And Marcus Ginyard moved the ball well against Duke freshman Nolan Smith and made a nice entry pass that led to a foul.
Of course, doing that in a close game with the outcome on the line is a different story.
Thomas is back in now after the TV timeout.
9:10 p.m.: Wow, this is interesting. After Ty Lawson dressed and shot around and looked OK, Carolina officials announced he won't play after all.
So Quentin Thomas, who drew a big cheer of "QQQQQ!!!" when he entered the game, is the starter and will get big minutes.
By the way, UNC fans booed loudly when Gerald Henderson was the third player introduced, but it wasn't anything overly long or ear-piercing. Just sort of a BOOO! Now, OK, let's play.
8:57 p.m.: Wow, what a huge crowd for this one. The Smith Center seats about 21,000 people but it feels like New York City on New Year's Eve.
So here comes Duke out on the court, Henderson is like the fifth on out on the floor, and there was a soft boo that rose from the crowd.
The fact that Ty Lawson for Carolina and Brian Zoubek are dressed for both teams really changes this game. Obviously the big story has been whether Lawson plays, but you have fo figure Zoubek, with his size and strength, would be a factor for Duke in defending Hansbrough.
More on that as the game unfolds.
8:23 p.m.: if you're wondering if North Carolina's Tywon Lawson will play, you may have just gotten your answer.
Lawson, the sophomore point guard, is dressed and shooting around with the team 45 minutes before the game. You could hear the UNC fans cheer when he came onthe flor.
Of course, shooting around is one thing - bringing the ball up against Duke is another.
But the early look here is he's going to look to play.
In fact, it's 8:22 p.m. and he just jogged off to a huge cheer from UNC fans.
6:15 p.m.: Quick note on tonight's coverage.
First, 99.9 FM The Fan has a pregame show from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Of course, the game is WRAL-TV, in HD - whew!
After the game, Jeff Gravley and Bob Holliday will be on the scene in Chapel Hill with fresh reports, and the coaches' postgame comments will run live on WRAL.
On the web, we'll have two live blogs - one from Mr. Tar Heel vs. Bleed Royal Blue and then this one. After the game, we'll post a game story, video from the scene, comments from players and coaches. Veteran reporter Barry Jacobs will also be filing from the game.