Blowouts between North Carolina and Duke are very rare. But that is exactly what happened Saturday in the Dean Smith Center, as the Tar Heels buried the Blue Devils.

It was never a game. Carolina put away its arch rival not long after the opening tip. The home team went ahead 14-4 at the 14:22 mark, and the lead never went back to single digits. The margin doubled to 26-6 roughly midway through the first half, and from there is was just a mere formality.

There were no bells or whistles. The bottom line is that the Heels played to their strengths, and Duke had no answers. That was evident in the opening minutes.

North Carolina's strength is Duke's weakness. The Blue Devil big men simply were not big or strong enough to bang in the paint, and Roy Williams instructed his troops to pound it inside for post touches on each early possession.

They open up with their bread and butter look; the back screen into the slice cut followed by screen the screener action up top. Kerwin Walton coming off that screen up top is the second option, and that's where they go. He immediately hits Day'Ron Sharpe for the high-low entry. The stronger Sharpe discards Matthew Hurt to get position inside. Then he is too strong on the catch, and finishes through him. It is impossible for Hurt to get help with a double team in the high-low look because the ball is in the middle of the floor.

The four Carolina bigs combined for 43 points. Turnovers were once again an issue as they maintained their twenty per-game average over the last four. But an 18-point win despite that tells how difficult they were to stop today when they got a look. The Tar Heels shot 55 percent from the field, and had 21 assists on 31 made field goals. .

On the next possession, North Carolina runs the same set but throws in a different wrinkle to keep the Duke defense honest. Instead of reversing the ball from the top, Armando Bacot throws it back to the same side to Caleb Love. Now they set the same side diagonal screen on the ball-side. Kerwin Walton sets it for Bacot. He gets the ball on the block and he also has a mismatch. Bacot is too strong for Mark Williams and plays right through him. Bacot had 18 points on just ten shots, and Love had 7 assists. The freshman guard does still need to clean things up because of his four turnovers. However, his assist to turnover ratio was almost two to one Saturday.

Now Carolina gets the ball inside on the high-low from their patented secondary look. Love pushes the ball down the right side to the unoccupied corner. Bacot is fronted by Williams, which means an automatic lob. However, it can't be made from the corner, because of the backside help under the basket. We all know what is coming next: The ball is skipped to Sharpe who is playing the trail spot on top of the key. Now Bacot turns with his seal and pushes Williams up the lane. The Duke freshman is dead in the water and defenseless against the lob. Right now, it is shooting fish in the barrel for the Heels when it comes to getting the ball inside.

Duke has no other option but to help and pack in the paint against North Carolina's inside game. This creates the inside-out game and open jump shots. We have seen the box set and the secondary looks. Now they come with the two-man game and the side pick-and-roll with the left side of the floor overloaded. They start going to his look a lot as we will see. Usually the pocket bounce pass was made into the mid-range. On this play, Hurt is able to recover in time, and Bacot receives the pass far enough out on the floor that it is time consuming. That ends out working perfectly. As Bacot backs Hurt down, the help arrives. There are three Blue Devils surrounding the rim. This leaves two-on-one on top and on the backside. Bacot passes to an open Anthony Harris up top, but he is unselfish. He understands that Caleb Love is open on the left wing, and the freshman is the better shooter. He makes the extra pass and gets the assist.

North Carolina's three-point shooting has been confusing for fans. players, and coaches alike. They were 8 of 18 Saturday for 44.4 percent. That comes off a 20-percent performance at Syracuse, 21.7 percent versus Florida State, and 27.8 percent against Marquette. In the convincing win against Louisville, they were also 8 of 18 for 44.4 percent. There is little doubt that this up and down team needs to carry hot outside shooting into the post season.

On the next possession, Carolina goes right back to the two-man side pick-and-roll. They aren't able to put a lot of pressure on Duke with the dribble so they can defend the play without switching. This leads to a ball-reversal to the left side and another reversal back to Kessler at the top. Roy Williams had his team well scouted on what to expect from the smaller Blue Devils. He knew they would overplay the wings beyond the three point line, so they were ready to back-cut.

Harris is the first guard to back-cut from the wing. This opens up the floor for Kerwin Walton to fill to the wing. He is overplayed and back-cuts as well. He and Walker Kessler had good chemistry here. Walton doesn't try to get all the way to the rim because of Williams. He pulls up short of the seven footer along the the short corner. Kessler reads this as well and drops a nice bounce pass for the mid-range jumper. Walton is known for his three-point shooting, but he was also 2-for-2 from inside the arc against Duke.

Here is the same look to the left side of the floor. Bacot ball-screens for R.J. Davis in the two-man game. The ball is reversed too Sharpe. Now, Leaky Black is overplayed on the wing. He back-cuts and gets the bounce pass. Williams is assigned to Bacot, but he has to help on Black. He hits Bacot diving to the rim before the help side can arrive for the easy two-handed stuff. The lead now grows to twenty at 26-6.

From 26-6, Duke goes on an 10-2 run and cuts the lead to twelve at 28-16. But they make a major mistake. I think this play was a big as any in the game. They don't communicate in transition defense, and they leave a man wide open on the wing. It's the wrong guy. Kerwin Walton is the last person you want to be unaccounted for. Walton gets the kick. He is so good at shooting three's, that he is always under control. He shot fakes against the sprinting closeout and re-positions himself for one of his four three-pointers. Walton is now shooting 41 percent from three, and was 8-for-11 from deep in his two games against Duke.

Again, we see Carolina Secondary. The ball is pushed to the corner then reversed around the arc for a post feed to Garrison Brooks on the left block. Walker Kessler was the trail, and he received the back-screen from Walton to the opposite block. Brooks draws enough help with his initial dribble that he is able to lob across the block to Walker Kessler.

The seven-footer goes to his bread and butter move. He shows to his right shoulder toward the middle with his dribble, then pivots for the jump hook over his left shoulder. This is a fade away. I honestly don't think there is anyone in the world that can get to that release point. As he gets older and stronger, and his body matures that move will be a weapon.