Durham, N.C. ? Bobby Frasor remembers all the fuss when North Carolina went from being favored to win the national championship to the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings in the span of a week.

That seems like a lot longer than just a month ago.

After losing their first two league games, the third-ranked Tar Heels are now alone atop the ACC standings after Wednesday night’s 101-87 win at No. 6 Duke. It’s right where everybody expected them to be, yet no one expected the preseason No. 1 team to take the long way there.

“I don’t know that there’s that much of a difference,” Frasor said of how the Tar Heels are playing now. “Yeah, we’ve been playing better. Defensively, we’re a little better. But it wasn’t the end of the world when we were 0-2 like everybody was making it seem.

“Even if we lost this game, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. There’s still a lot of games left, and anything can happen in the ACC.”

North Carolina (22-2, 8-2 ACC) has won eight straight since a stunning home loss to Boston College on Jan. 4 followed by a loss at Wake Forest a week later. In that stretch, seven victories have come by double-digit margins — including a 24-point home win against then-No. 10 Clemson to keep the Tigers winless all-time in Chapel Hill — while the exception was an 80-77 win at Florida State in which Ty Lawson hit a running three-pointer at the buzzer.

Yet those performances don’t hold the same luster as Wednesday’s victory. After all, this one came against the hated Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium on the court that bears Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski’s name.

Since North Carolina’s loss to BC, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke and now Connecticut have grabbed headlines as the nation’s top-ranked team. But this was the kind of efficient and composed performance that reminded everyone these Tar Heels are no afterthought, even after losing three key players to injuries or suspension since the start of the season.

“There’s no laying in the weeds here,” said Danny Green, who joined fellow senior Tyler Hansbrough as the first Tar Heels to play in four wins at Cameron in the Krzyzewski era. “There’s always a target on our chest every time we play somebody. It’s their best shot, and we’re expecting their best shot, so every time we step on the floor we’ve got to give it our best shot and work as hard as we possibly can and execute the way we’re supposed to.”