Duke has the talent of an elite team.

Duke has the most successful coach in Division I history.

But Duke doesn’t have a chance of going much further than the first couple rounds of the NCAA Tournament unless the Blue Devils figure out how to play better defense. In fact, I’m officially putting Duke on upset alert starting with the first game they play in the tournament.

Unlike past Duke teams, this year’s version of the Blue Devils doesn’t generate a ton of turnovers to spark easy baskets on offense. For the first time in 10 years, Duke is forcing turnovers on less than 20 percent of opponents’ possessions. That MIA Duke pressure has been a hallmark of coach Mike Krzyzewski’s teams for years. But it’s nearly nonexistent this season, as Seth Curry is the only player with more than one steal per game.

Because the Blue Devils aren’t forcing mistakes, opponents have been able to take advantage of the plodding defense of the Plumlee brothers and Ryan Kelly. This team lacks the interior shot blocking presence of Shelden Williams or sheer man-size of Brian Zoubek. Miami pretty much showed everyone exactly how to beat Duke in the 78-74 overtime win yesterday: spread out the defense, isolate a defender off a screen, and let a speedier guard go to work. If Duke’s help defense can recover, which it didn’t for much of the loss to the Hurricanes, a shooter should be open on the wing or in the corner.

Of course, Coach K didn’t surpass 900 wins on sheer luck. This team will make adjustments. It was about this time two years ago that Coach K made Brian Zoubek a full-time starter, and the Blue Devils lost only once for the rest of the season en route to a national title. The Blue Devils don’t have anyone with the size of Zoubek to step and make a difference. But it wouldn’t shock me to see more playing time for sophomore guard Tyler Thornton.

In his post game interview after the Miami loss, Coach K bemoaned his team’s effort, which is something he never has to worry about from Thornton. The sophomore from Washington, D.C, plays with a ton of energy, like he’s cherishing every second that he’s on the court. Thornton is not a great shooter, but if he can become the spark plug that helps Austin Rivers, Andre Dawkins, Ryan Kelly and the rest of the crew reach they’re full potential, he’ll fill a critical need for Duke.

In other words, Thornton could become the team’s emotional leader, a role that has rarely been hard to find on Duke but isn’t clear this season. With so much talent in the backcourt and enough Plumlee muscle in the post, a shot of energy in this lineup could be enough to help Duke get back on track.

But if the Blue Devils don’t respond, this team could lose to just about any upset-minded team that executes a precise game plan to exploit Duke’s defensive gaps. With a few weeks remaining before March Madness, Coach K and the Blue Devil nation are eagerly searching for someone to fill those cracks.

The Seminoles have one of the worst turnover percentages in the country, based on Ken Pomeroy’s stats. Florida State gives the ball away nearly once every four possessions. That’s brutal for an offense that shoots fairly well but has a tendency to go into slumps.

The result of such inconsistency is an occasional five- or six-minute scoring drought. In the NCAA Tournament, that could spell disaster against a team that catches fire, especially from long range.

But the Seminoles had been improving until Saturday’s ugly win vs. Virginia. Since the calendar turned to 2012, Florida State had kept the turnover percentage to less than 25 percent in all but one game. Against the Cavaliers, Florida State regressed by committing 19 turnovers in 63 possessions, a 30.1 percent turnover rate. That’s just not going to get it done in most games.

Just imagine how good Florida State would be if the Seminoles could somehow trade for North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall. The ACC’s best point guard has a ridiculous 4-to-1 assist to turnover ratio while playing for one of the fastest-paced teams in the land. Under Leonard Hamilton, the Seminoles also like to get up and down the court, and Marshall would turn an average offense into a very good one.

The Seminoles’ defense already ranks as one of the best in the country, anchored by Bernard James, a former Marine who turns 27 Feb. 7. The intelligent, tough senior is wired for defense, and he blocks more than two shots per game and intimidates shooters more than stats will show. Although James’ defensive contributions are the hallmark of Hamilton’s recent Seminoles teams, they aren’t always enough to make up for the offensive inefficiency.

Five Seminole players commit at least two turnovers per game, which is especially concerning when only one of those players logs 30 minutes per game. If Florida State could take better care of the ball and lower the team’s turnover percentage to just the Division I average, Florida State’s offense would jump from ranking around No. 90 in efficiency to the top 50. That shift in balance would make the Seminoles even more dangerous, and the team would start to look like a legitimate Final Four contender.

As North Carolina and Duke have discovered, the Seminoles can beat any team in the country anywhere on any given night. The problem is that Florida State could lose to just about any team if the Noles start getting sloppy with the ball and run into hot shooters. Improve ball security, and the team can better withstand a lucky shooting streak and make some serious noise in March.

Enter the 2011-12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame lost a great deal from last season’s team that entered the month of March playing about as well as any team in the country. Gone from that team are Big East Player of the Year Ben Hansbrough and important role players Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott, the latter a big defensive leader for that team and a surprise early defection. Already, projections for this team were going to be that they were unlikely to contend for the top of the Big East. When they went 0-2 in Kansas City, including an 87-58 thrashing at the hands of Missouri, it looked like they would be who many thought they would be.

That wasn’t all. The Fighting Irish were not certain to have Tim Abromaitis back, as he played in two exhibition games in the 2008-09 season where he redshirted. But the NCAA granted him this year, so that helped as he was an experienced player and was second on the team in scoring last season. Then in late November, he tore the ACL in his right knee in practice, putting him out for the season.

At that point, the outlook was decidedly not good. But no one told head coach Mike Brey and his team that, and after Saturday’s convincing 76-59 win over Marquette, the Fighting Irish are alone in fourth place in the Big East.

“From the start of the season, no one thought we would be here,” said sophomore point guard Eric Atkins.

Notre Dame hasn’t compiled its record by beating up on the bottom feeders of the conference. Along the way, they have knocked off Louisville, Seton Hall and Connecticut on the road, and now Syracuse and Marquette at home.

“I am very proud of my group,” said Brey, who at this point looks like the runaway Coach of the Year in the Big East, if not nationally. “I told them in one of the final media timeouts that I felt like I was coaching men today. Last year’s team was men. That had a look of more than one fifth year senior on the court. I am thrilled where we are.”

Notre Dame can only get better given that this is a young team with a lot of players who are just finding themselves. Scott Martin is the only other senior besides Abromaitis on the team, while the emerging perimeter unit of Atkins, Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton are sophomore, sophomore and freshman respectively. Connaughton wasn’t expected to play much, but he scored 21 points on Saturday and now starts on the hardwood as well as the mound (the San Diego Padres drafted him last year).

“Right now, we’re really confident that we can beat any team – we can play with any team,” said Grant. “Our team confidence is really high right now, and I’d like to keep it that way because we are playing really well.”

That’s one thing no one can doubt at this point. The Irish have proven that to this point, and as a more confident team they will be even tougher to beat.

We take you coast to coast with news from around the college basketball nation.

Arizona had a big weekend, sweeping their trip to northern California after a 56-43 win at Stanford on Saturday. The Wildcats may be starting to come alive at a good time.

Syracuse got Fab Melo back for Saturday’s game, and they rolled to a 95-70 blowout win at St. John’s. The win was the 879^th in Jim Boeheim’s career, tying him with Dean Smith for third on the all-time list.

Seton Hall’s struggles continued as Connecticut annihilated them 69-46 in Hartford.

Kentucky had an easy time at South Carolina, committing just three turnovers in their blowout win.

The Big 12 gets a little more interesting at Missouri rallied to knock off Kansas in a big rivalry showdown. Both teams are now 8-2 in conference play.

Who’s on top of the ACC? No, not Duke, although the Blue Devils will be tied if they beat Miami on Sunday. North Carolina is in a tie after a big 83-74 win at Maryland to move into a tie for that spot. The team they are tied with is Florida State, as the Seminoles are 7-1 after a 58-55 win over Virginia.

Temple is now alone in first place in the Atlantic 10 after a 73-56 win at Rhode Island, combined with Saint Joseph’s knocking off La Salle earlier in the day. Temple’s perimeter trio continues to be the driving force for this team.

Wyoming knocked off road-weary UNLV in a close one after the Runnin’ Rebels ran into snow-related travel delays en route to Laramie.

Northern Iowa beat Creighton on a buzzer-beater, right after Creighton had tied it on a big shot.

Iona won a big showdown against Manhattan for the lead in the MAAC.

George Mason grabbed a share of the lead in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 54-50 win over Old Dominion in a first-place showdown. The Patriots are joined by VCU, 59-56 winners over Northeastern, and Drexel, 65-57 winners at Towson, at 11-2 in the conference.

Mississippi Valley State is now 10-0 in the SWAC and two games ahead in the standings, after knocking off Alabama State.

Sunday’s key matchups:

• Michigan at Michigan State
• Miami at Duke
• Northwestern at Illinois
• Stephen F. Austin at McNeese State
• The biggest one of all: New York Giants vs. New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI

The Owls’ perimeter trio asserted themselves right out of the gates on Saturday, scoring the game’s first eight points on two three-pointers and a steal and layup by Moore, who leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring (Wyatt is second in that category). That helped them build a 16-5 lead before the first media timeout and later a 16-point lead in the half.

Moore, who led the Owls with a game-high 22 points, has been especially driven during his senior season. It isn’t just because it’s his last go-round, although that’s surely part of it for a player who has steadily improved over his career. Moore changed his uniform number to 10 this season after the death of his cousin in a car accident. The reason behind it was adding up the digits in his cousin’s football jersey (55) and a birthday of March 10.

Wyatt was last season’s top sixth man in the Atlantic 10 and has moved into the starting lineup without a hitch. While Moore has led the team in scoring ten times this season, Wyatt has done it nine times, and both scored 20 or more points in the same game twice in the last two weeks. In the second half, Wyatt buried a very deep back-breaking three-pointer en route to scoring 13 of his 16 in that frame.

More than just the individuals, this unit is clearly bigger than the sum of their parts for a reason. They play well together and none is caught up trying to score the most points. Moore and Wyatt each average over three per game, while Fernandez is known for his passing but has a jumper that must be respected. In fact, all three shoot over 40 percent from long range on the season. In addition, all three are at least 6’4″, so they have good size, which creates matchup problems.

“They all can score, but they all like to get the ball up and help their teammates,” said head coach Fran Dunphy. “It’s as much fun for them to make an assist as to score.”

Temple has been quite reliant on its perimeter trio for a couple of reasons. One is the absence of Scootie Randall, who is likely redshirting this season after having a more difficult recovery from off-season knee surgery. Last season’s Most Improved Player in the Atlantic 10, Randall figured to start and play a major role on this team, but the way the Owls have overcome his absence is another example of the depth they have and how this team in recent years has had another player fill a spot when the opportunity for an expanded role has presented itself.

The Owls have also had to go without big man Michael Eric for some of the season, although he has returned recently. The big man suffered a patella tendon injury to his right knee in late November, the same knee he fractured last season. He had been playing well before the injury, and while he’s still not all the way back, the Owls are 5-0 since he returned to action against Maryland.

“He gives us a presence down in the paint,” said Wyatt. “Without Mike, we were pretty good, so having Mike back should make us better.”

With Eric out, then limited since his return, Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson has been a key for this team. At times, he has been their only frontcourt player on the floor, Saturday included, but he has made it work at both ends of the floor. He and Anthony Lee have teamed with Eric to form a solid, unspectacular frontcourt that gets the job done for this team.

There are more riches on the perimeter than just the three starters, and that was also on display Saturday. Sophomore Aaron Brown has been a solid reserve, giving them good offense once he comes into the game. Brown, who scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting (3-4 from long range) off the bench in Saturday’s win, has started ten games in his career as well and looks to be one of the next Owls who first produces in a relatively limited role, then becomes a key player after waiting his turn.

Temple is looking more and more like a team that can make a run in the NCAA Tournament. They have proven themselves against the competition, entering the week with an RPI of 13 and a 3-0 record against teams in the top 50. More impressive is that of those three wins, only the win over Duke came in Philadelphia, and that was at the Wells Fargo Center instead of on campus. The Owls are 9-4 away from campus on the season after Saturday’s win, including a 7-3 record in true road games.

“We’re pleased to be where we are, yet know we have eight really tough games to go,” said Dunphy.

The Atlantic 10 has six teams bunched together within one game at the top of the standings after Saturday. Temple is on top and playing better than any of them right now, but Dunphy continues to reinforce that it’s a tough conference. With the way his perimeter trio is playing, they are in a good place to try to stay at or near the top the rest of the way.

Cornell has struggled offensively all year, and that’s the clearest indication that this isn’t the Big Red of a couple of years ago. That was abundantly clear in the first half on Friday, as they struggled to get anything going and committed several turnovers that were of the costly variety. They weren’t much better in the second half, as their better shooting percentage was masked by more turnovers as well as a few baskets with the outcome not in doubt that made the score closer than it looked.

“We tried to score in transition before the halfcourt defense could get set up,” said head coach Bill Courtney. “It is a problem that we don’t make shots. We know that the way this team is built, if we don’t make shots, we’re going to be in trouble a lot of nights.”

The Big Red haven’t run bad offense, and the feeling is that they have been able to get good shots often. But they have had trouble getting the ball in the basket, as they shoot less than 41 percent on the season and less than 33 percent from deep. Turnovers haven’t been as big a problem, but they were on Friday night and Harvard made them pay for it.

Even with the offensive struggles, the Big Red’s defense has helped keep them in games. The Big Red allow opponents to shoot less than 41 percent from the floor, which is good for third in the Ivy League, and they force a league-high 16 turnovers per game. They defend the three-point line better than any other Ivy League team. The down side at that end is fouling: the Big Red average over 20 fouls per game and allow teams to get to the line more than 23 times per game. That was a big part of how Harvard grabbed the lead in the first half, as the Crimson went 15-18 from the line (they were 29-34 from the line for the game). But when Cornell got them in the halfcourt and didn’t foul, they were often effective.

Cornell has lost only three games by double digits this season, and four losses have been by five points or less. The inability to pull out close games plagued last year’s team, and while this year’s team hasn’t been much better, that isn’t as big an issue this time around. Perhaps the best sign of how competitive this team has been is that during a tough four-game road stretch to close out December, the Big Red lost all four games by single digits, including two by less than five and one in overtime.

“The teams we’ve played on the road are very good,” said Courtney, now in his second season leading the program. “A lot of the times, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win, and when you’re playing a good team on the road, that’s all you can ask for.”

There is some good young talent on this team, and that tends to be what a team looks like in year two of a coaching staff. The Big Red have six freshmen and five sophomores, four of whom have played significant minutes thus far. A couple of their underclassmen have had more limited action or none at all due to injury, and that has also been the case for their most talented player, junior Errick Peck. Peck will redshirt due to a knee injury and come back for two more years, which means they can really build with this core. Peck had a breakout season a year ago with a larger role, and looked ready to contend for all-league honors this season.

Shonn Miller has started 13 games thus far for the Big Red and shown the most promise of the freshmen. He has won the league’s Rookie of the Week four times this season and is third on the team in scoring and leads in rebounding and blocked shots.

“Shonn just adds a different dimension as far as athleticism and altering shots on the defensive end,” said senior guard Chris Wroblewski.

Wroblewski is a key holdover from the championship days, having played a key role on those teams in his first two seasons. With that, it’s fair to say he knows a little about winning. That’s why it’s no surprise that Courtney singled him out in particular for the leadership on the team, especially with the young talent he has and while Wroblewski has had a tough season shooting the ball.

“Chris Wroblewski has done an incredible job of leadership,” said Courtney. “Even when he was playing bad and wasn’t making shots, he was being a great leader and really bringing this team together.”

Cornell has already shown they can be a factor in the Ivy League. The Big Red are unlikely to contend for the title this season, but they are 7-2 at home including a win over Princeton. But Courtney can see this team moving in a positive direction, and you get the feeling that if they get that first road win, it might spur them on to more. As it is, they are likely to be one of those proverbial “teams no one wants to see” down the stretch at home.

Northeastern is now 7-5 in CAA play, which is a respectable mark. But take a closer look, and one notices problems. One is that they are now three games out of fourth place, which means they need some help if they are to ultimately get a bye in the conference tournament next month. That has meant everything over the years, and it’s very difficult to win four games in four days. Perhaps more importantly, the Huskies have put that record together only against the teams they “should” beat. The Huskies are 0-4 against the teams that are ahead of them in the standings.

This is about what was expected of the Huskies. They have just one senior on the roster, Niagara transfer Kashief Edwards, so this team looked to be about a year away from contending. They were one of several teams that one could put in a hat and pull them out when trying to project the middle of the pack before the season. There is some experience in the backcourt, but youth up front, and depth was an unknown. The youth up front has shown plenty of promise, adding to the idea that this team could contend next year.

In fact, that the Huskies are even in the first division of the CAA might seem like a case of over-achieving when looking at their non-conference record. A six-game losing streak in December doesn’t usually foreshadow being 7-5 at this point in conference play. The issues the Huskies showed in December – turnovers and a lack of backcourt depth – are still around, although the former has been lessened. But the lack of backcourt means starting guards Jonathan Lee and Joel Smith are playing without much rest, and will be more likely to wear down later in the season.

If the Huskies don’t at least continue to knock off the teams they should beat, they could slip back in the standings quite easily. They are now tied for fifth with Georgia State, and Delaware is breathing down their neck one game back. Both teams have proven themselves against the conference’s best teams. The Panthers handed Drexel their only loss in the last 17 games and have won at VCU, the latter marking the only time the Rams have lost at home all season. The Blue Hens almost beat the Huskies at Matthews Arena just a week earlier, beat Drexel in December and knocked off George Mason on Wednesday night.

There is still time for Northeastern to change where they stand. The Huskies are at VCU on Saturday and get George Mason at home on February 22. Last season, the Huskies had their struggles but managed to knock off VCU along the way. That game was in Boston, but it’s proof that a team like this is capable of beating one of the contenders. A month left in the regular season is a good amount of time for improvement to happen, especially in the crucial backcourt area off the bench since the two reserves there are freshmen.

But right now, where Northeastern stands is clear in the CAA. They are not contenders yet, and until they knock off a team ahead of them in the standings, that’s where they will be. They will continue to be a year away.

We unveil our first NCAA Tournament projections now that nearly every team is approaching the midpoint of conference play. We’ve got a big enough sample of games to evaluate teams across conferences in an attempt to find the 68 teams that are most deserving of a bid to the Big Dance.

As usual, it’s not easy to parse the minute differences in many cases. The selection committee faces a tough task every season. Although they’ll never make everyone happy, the committee always delivers a final product that produces thrills and drama for nearly a month in late March and early April. Team A might feel shafted, but Team B might turn into VCU and write a Cinderella story for the ages.

So let’s get right to the brackets. As always, please share your thoughts.

Northeastern took an early 29-27 lead in the second half, which was their first lead since the first minute of the game. But that lead was short-lived, and once Drexel went up 36-31 on a layup by Frantz Massenat, the Huskies were never within one possession the rest of the way.

“We pride ourselves on defense, so that was really our goal after we got up in the second half,” said guard Damion Lee, who led the Dragons with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds.

Drexel is the hottest team in the CAA right now, having won ten straight and 16 of 17. The only slip-up in that stretch was at Georgia State just after the calendar turned over to 2012. Since then, they have turned back all CAA challengers, handing George Mason their only loss before last night and beating VCU. They also knocked off the two teams that have defeated them, Delaware and Georgia State, in their second meeting with each.

The Dragons haven’t done this easily, and it’s rarely the case that a team does this easily. The Dragons have had injuries, which was one contributor to their 2-4 start to the season. The most noteworthy one was the off-season knee injury Chris Fouch suffered, which kept the junior guard out for the first four games. Freshman Tavon Allen has missed the entire season with multiple injuries, and he figured to help this team out had he been healthy.

Even though Fouch returned earlier than first thought, he hasn’t played well yet. He’s had a couple of good games, but not a consistent stretch, and he hasn’t shot the ball well. Partly, it’s from the timing of the injury. He missed early practice, which meant no chance to mesh with new teammates, and he barely had any practice before playing. His first game was on November 30, a loss at Saint Joseph’s, and that was two days after he was cleared to play.

Another example of how this team hasn’t made it easy came leading up to Wednesday night. Drexel got off to a fast start on Wednesday night, leading 12-3 in the early going. Damion Lee was the best player on the floor, but then disappeared the rest of the half. Northeastern out-played Drexel the remainder of the half and into the second half, before Drexel turned it around and took control. Lee was a key part of that, starting with an old-fashioned three-point play to break a 31-31 tie and put them ahead for good.

Despite the convincing win, Flint said the Dragons didn’t prepare well. It would be easy to think that a veteran team like this has reached a place where they understand the target on their back as preseason favorites and what it takes to win, but the bottom line on Wednesday obscured that.

“I told them, don’t set yourself up,” said Flint. “We’re going up to a tough place to play, these guys are good in there. They gave us everything we can handle today.”

Still, Flint said there’s a lot to like with the intangibles on this team. The chemistry has been great, as Fouch and Samme Givens aren’t putting up big numbers (and as noted, the former hasn’t played all that well), but they know they don’t need to with this team and have been fine with it because the wins keep coming. The leadership has been very good, and the team plays the way one expects a Bruiser Flint-coached team to play.

Right now, the Dragons are also playing very well when one looks at the bottom line. The preseason favorites are looking that part more and more as they continue to win and in the fashion they did on Wednesday night.

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, the biggest event in U.S. sports will command the attention of tens of millions of viewers, generating tens of millions of dollars for everyone associated with the event.

A few weeks later, the NBA All-Star game will show the NFL how exhibition weekends should be run. In my opinion, the NBA All-Star weekend festivities are the best of any pro sport, with baseball coming in a close second. Did anyone actually watch the Pro Bowl last weekend?

We don’t have any winter Olympics this year, but that’s a February event, too.

And then we have college hoops. To casual fans, March is the month of joy. But February is the month that sets the table for March. Dozens of teams are jockeying for position right now, fighting for a better seed and location or merely a bid to the Big Dance.

The schedule-makers know what they’re doing, too. Next Wednesday — just days after the Super Bowl — the top rivalry in college hoops will go down for the first of two meetings in a month when Duke visits North Carolina. That’s a nice way for the NCAA to tell America: “Guess what? Football is over. It’s time to set your sights on the hardwood.”

And of course, as we work through the thick of conference play, we’ll have the rush of bracket projections to feed the hoops addiction. Hoopville will join the fray as usual, starting this Friday. We choose to wait until February because it just feels right. By now, we have a large enough sample size to judge teams’ résumés and make projections that have a good shot of standing up during the final few weeks before Selection Sunday.

We take you coast to coast with news from around the college basketball nation.

Get ready for more technical fouls and a shorter leash on players or coaches who act out. Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog reports that John Adams, the NCAA’s national officiating coordinator, sent a notice to all officials that implored them to clamp down on bad behavior.

Clemson has indefinitely suspended junior Milton Jennings, a former McDonald’s All-American, because of academic reasons, according to the Associated Press. Jennings averages 8.9 ppg and 5.4 rpg.

Arizona will finish the season without junior Kevin Parrom, who broke his foot in a loss to Washington last weekend, according to a CBS Sports.com report. He averaged 4.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg and 1.7 apg this season.

Iona is looking to remain one of the premier programs in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and the university extended the contract of coach Tim Cluess to help make that happen, according to a CBS Sports.com report.

Don’t mess with a player’s routine. North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes shared some of the details of his routine with Andrew Jones of Fox Sports to explain why he changed his shoes at halftime of the Tar Heels’ win against Georgia Tech. Like the rest of the team, Barnes started the game with pink shoes to help promote breast cancer awareness. But he went with his usual Kobes in the second half.

VCU coach Shaka Smart stirred some commotion in the commonwealth during a teleconference Monday, writes Myron Medcalf for ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog. Smart asserted that Virginia’s best schools reside in the CAA. He didn’t call out the ACC teams in Blacksburg or Charlottesville by name, but Smart felt compelled to give UVA coach Tony Bennett a call to clarify his comments.

The NCAA won’t be seeking any further action against Connecticut freshman guard Ryan Boatright regarding an investigation into his eligibility because of money and benefits that he and his mother received, according to the Associated Press. But the AP reports that the Boatrights’ lawyer isn’t finished with his actions against the NCAA, lambasting the organization for releasing private information.

The only coach to ever lead Canisius to an NCAA Tournament win died Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Joseph Curran, 89, passed away in Mystic, Conn. He led the Golden Griffins to a 76-66 record in six seasons, which included a shocking four overtime victory against No. 2 North Carolina State in the 1956 NCAA Tournament.

“I thought our guys stayed very poised,” said Larranaga, currently in his first season at the school. “Early in the season, we tended to go our own way and tried to do it on our own. Tonight, I thought we stuck with some things and were able to fight through it, and our defense got better as the game progressed. They were at 49 for a long time.”

In fact, Boston College went over three minutes without scoring, and never got another field goal. They shot 35 percent in the second half after shooting over 42 percent in the first half, and turnovers were once again a problem. In the meantime, Miami turned the ball over just five times on the afternoon, the second straight game with a single digit figure in that column.

Miami was a mixed bag early in the season. They won their first four games, then lost four of the next five in part from playing tougher opponents and having to go on the road a few times. At 5-4, they got back big man Reggie Johnson, who suffered a knee injury last summer, and he has certainly made a difference.

“Reggie’s made a huge difference for a number of different reasons,” said Larranaga.

Johnson hasn’t been a dominant force at either end of the floor, nor has he posted eye-popping numbers. But since he has returned, a lot of the Hurricanes have benefited. Alongside him, Kenny Kadji is perhaps the biggest beneficiary, averaging 17.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game since Johnson’s return. Larranaga noted that Johnson now guards the biggest opponent, which allows Kadji more freedom at both ends. On the perimeter, Durand Scott and Rion Brown have seen their percentages make a big jump, with Scott shooting just over 30 percent before his return and over 51 percent since.

Most of all, the team has benefited as they are 7-3, and have gone from being out-rebounded to out-rebounding opponents. Johnson isn’t all the way back physically as of yet. While he’s healthy, he’s still not in the kind of game shape most players are by this season, and he wasn’t in the best shape even before the injury. But the effect his return has had is clear.

Another player who has helped others is freshman point guard Shane Larkin. The son of baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, he has moved into the starting lineup and made life easier for Scott and Malcolm Grant. Larkin is a good defender as well, and putting him alongside Scott and Grant gives them three ball handlers to start the game. Scott admirably played the point for a lot of his first two years for a guy who isn’t natural at the position, but Larranaga likes making his and Grant’s life easier.

“Quite frankly, ball handling wears you out,” said Larranaga. “Having three ball handlers sharing the ball, sharing the responsibility, definitely helps.”

“We really don’t go by positions. We just go out there and try to play,” said Scott, who had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists on Sunday. “Coach knows what’s best, he put him at the point for a reason, and I trust him putting him at the point and me at the 2. The last couple of games, we got wins, so how can I complain about that?”

There’s a lot of room to maneuver in the ACC aside from what appears to be a clear top four teams. Based on play thus far, the top four looks to be some combination of Duke, Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia. After that, though, there’s a drop-off, and places 5-12 in the standings could go a number of ways. In the mix are teams like Clemson, Maryland, Miami, NC State and Virginia Tech. All of those teams have things to like about them, but none will bowl you over. Based on how Miami has played since Johnson’s return, they would be as good a pick to get into the top half as anyone.

Of the Hurricanes’ remaining 10 ACC contests, six are at home. That’s a plus, and of the four teams that project to be at the top, they have as many games on the road against them as at home (two each). If they continue to buy into the ideas of defense and taking care of the ball, Sunday’s decisive run may turn out to be a microcosm of the season. They certainly have the personnel with which to do that.