Mother Nature gave it her best shot with winter storm Octavia, but this year, the show will go on.
Despite the frigid conditions, No. 4 Duke will play host to No. 15 North Carolina Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium in what will be the 81st matchup between the two schools since head coach Mike Krzyzewski was named Blue Devil head coach in 1980. The two teams are currently deadlocked in the rivalry series since that season at 40-40 and are both among the top five squads in the conference, giving Wednesday's contest even more weight than it already carried.
"This is the best game, because you have two of the top-five programs to ever play college basketball going against one another. And we're only eight miles apart," Krzyzewski said. "This game—it's a 9-o-clock game—both teams are going to be excited to play.... You have to be careful that you don't get emotion-ed out before you even play.”
When the two teams take the court Wednesday, all eyes will likely be on the quartet of Duke freshmen—headlined by center and leading scorer Jahlil Okafor—as they play in the first rivalry game of their 25-game-old careers. The rookies have been instrumental to the Blue Devils’ success, making up 54.6 percent of their offensive production and leading the squad to its current third place standing in the ACC.
But now, possibly more so than the road trip to then-No. 2 Wisconsin and Krzyzewski’s 1,000th win at Madison Square Garden, the pressure will be on the young Blue Devils (22-3, 9-3 in the ACC) to do what last year’s squad could not and sweep their nearby nemesis.
“I’ve been looking to the older guys, anybody whose been through it and played in the game last year and in years prior,” point guard Tyus Jones said. “I’m just very excited for the greatest rivalry in college basketball. If you can’t get up for this game, something’s wrong with you.”
And as much as the contest has been hyped in the days leading up—First Take will film on Duke’s campus Wednesday morning—the game itself will be determined by which team can best utilize its strengths. And for North Carolina (18-7, 8-4), point guard Marcus Paige is that strength.
Paige exploded on the scene last year for the Tar Heels, dropping 17.5 points per game on 44.0 percent shooting from the floor. He went for 13 and 24 points in his two games against Duke, and though his numbers have slipped this year—he is averaging 13.9 points through 25 games—Paige will still be public enemy No. 1 for the Blue Devils.
The junior Tar Heel will be guarded by Jones and Quinn Cook, who is in the middle of the best year of his career, and the lone Duke senior is looking forward to the challenge of slowing down Paige.
“He’s the head of their snake. He makes those guys go. I like to accept the challenge,” Cook said. “Every guy on our perimeter likes to accept the challenges with the best players in the country. Myself and [Paige], we’ve had some great battles the two years he’s been there, and we’re looking forward to another one tomorrow.”
But Paige has not been alone on the Tar Heel offensive front.
The maturation of fellow guards Justin Jackson and Nate Britt—who combine for 16.1 points per game—has freed up more space for Paige to operate in along the perimeter, allowing him to push the ball at the fast pace North Carolina likes to play. The Tar Heels currently rank first in the ACC with 75.8 points per conference game.
“With the emergance of Britt playing so well, Paige can be with the ball or off the ball,” Krzyzewski said. “So he’s in more positions to score as a result of the play of Britt, who’s really playing outstanding basketball for them.”
As good as the back court of North Carolina is, though, it will be the front court that demands attention.
Slimmed-down sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks will be the Tar Heel tasked with slowing down Okafor—a task at which 25 teams have failed. The Chicago native owns the Duke record for most consecutive double-digit performances from a freshman, is coming off a 23-point, 13-rebound effort against Syracuse—his ninth double-double of the year—and is one of the few to have a size advantage against Meeks.
Okafor will be expected to perform on the offensive end, but the matchup the Blue Devils will have to key in on is between junior Amile Jefferson and North Carolina’s Brice Johnson. Johnson is a high-flying forward who hauls in 7.8 boards a game and—along with Meeks—is a big reason the squad is the second-best rebounding team in the nation.
“They have an amazing frontline, as do we,” Okafor said. “It’s going to be a really good battle. I’m going to have my work cut out for me—along with Amile and Marshall—as you know they have Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson, and they have some amazing big men coming off the bench as well.”
Despite their playmakers and dominance on the glass, the Tar Heels limp into Wednesday’s contest having lost three of their last four games. But the desperation to end this skid could make North Carolina all the more dangerous.
With Cook and Okafor coming through late for the Blue Devils in their past two games—and the added momentum of winning its last seven of eight—Duke will look to continue its climb to the top of the ACC as North Carolina hopes to get back on track.
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