DURHAM, N.C.A college basketball season, like history, rarely moves in a straight line. It zigs and it zags. It stops and it starts. A team that seems lost in February can be found by March (see: Kentucky, 2013-14).But even by normal measures, this season's version of the Duke Blue Devils has taken an especially crooked route. The injuries have been voluminous, affecting every player, save one, in head coach Mike Krzyzewski's rotation. The drama has been intense, as Grayson Allen's every movewhether an intentional-seeming trip of an opponent or an impressive hustle play where he gets tangled up on the sidelineshas set the internet on fire.Even Coach K, this team's rock, was down and out for a month after back surgery. The losses have ranged from the understandable (Louisville on the road) to the perplexing (Virginia Tech on the road) to the downright crazy (I mean, N.C. State at home')."The interruptionswe've had more interruptions than six teams," Coach K said Thursday night after a hard-fought 86-78 win over North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "No excuses. It's just the way it is."The way things stood after Duke's embarrassing home loss to N.C. State on Jan. 23 was, in a word, disastrous. Duke had lost three of its past four games. The team that was a near-unanimous No. 1 in the AP Poll in the preseason58 of 65 first-place votestumbled all the way down to 21st. A last-second win over a so-so Wake Forest squad was the only thing that stopped Duke from leaving the Top 25 for only the second time since 2008. Duke's three stud freshmen, who were all expected to be one-and-done lottery picksHarry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Boldenwere floundering.But the way it is now for Duke, after the thrilling win over its biggest rival, is this: The team that seemed in shambles 17 days ago looks like the scariest unit in college hoops.Did you see the way Duke handled a bigger, faster, more experienced North Carolina team that has retained all but two players from last season's national runner-up'Duke's two experienced shot-makers, junior Grayson Allen and sophomore Luke Kennard, combined for 45 points on 9-of-17 three-point shooting. Tatum dropped 19 points, all in the second half, including a rim-crushing tomahawk dunk that left UNC's Kennedy Meeks for dead; Tatum showed why he has the skill set to become a core player for an NBA franchise.Giles, still a step slow in his recovery from multiple knee injuries, flashed glimpses of why scouts saw him as a transcendent talent before his setbacks, grabbing rebounds, blocking a shot and generally being an active presence on the court.And Matt Jones provided Duke with a late senior-leader moment that sealed the game: After a Tatum three-pointer bounced high off the iron with 30 seconds to go and Duke up three, Jones dove to the floor at the top of the key, beating every UNC player to the ball, then shoveled it to his teammate, Frank Jackson, who was fouled.Suddenly, the schadenfreude so many Blue Devils haters were basking in 17 days ago was gone. Duke has won four games in a row. For the first time all season, it looks whole. And it looks scary good."We were behind compared to other teams in building chemistry because so many guys were hurt," Tatum said in the Blue Devils'jubilant locker room. "We're trying to catch up. But we're moving at a fast rate, and it shows with these last four wins we've hadfour tough W's.""It's coming together, having Coach back and everybody getting better," Giles said. "Everybody's feeling more comfortable."Check your calendar. Selection Sunday is in 31 days. The national title game in Glendale, Arizona, is in 53 days. This Duke team, which seemed so far behind just a few weeks ago, is rounding into shape. If you made me pick one team that'll cut down the nets on the first Monday in April, gun to my head, this is the one I'lltake.Look: There are caveats to the idea that all is perfect and sunny in Durham. The win comes with a couple of asterisks. One, UNC's starting power forward, Isaiah Hicks, was out with a hamstring injury. Two, if the Tar Heels hadn't missed eight of their 18 free throws Thursday, we could be talking about a very different storyline.Jones and Amile Jefferson, Duke's seniors, are playing hurt and have not been able to practice. And the Blue Devils are still playing without a true point guard, which may be as much of a reason for their struggles as any injury or tripping controversy.No, there will be no straight line to the Final Four; there rarely is. Duke will not run the table. Not in this stacked ACC, and not with so many freshmen. But mark my words: After Thursday night, a night in which we saw the tantalizing possibilities of the most talented team in college basketball, the zigs and the zags in Duke's path to Coach K's sixth NCAA title look straighter than ever before.ReidForgravecovers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at@ReidForgrave.
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