The Rivalry resumes: UNC visits Cameron

In a season in which the men's basketball team has been picked to win going into every contest with, perhaps, the exception of the Maryland game, the Blue Devils find themselves as-surprise-the team to beat going into tonight's matchup with North Carolina.

Sitting alone atop the conference standings, Duke enters the game as the No. 2 team in the country and is currently in the midst of a 14-game winning streak. UNC, meanwhile, finds itself tied with Florida State for third place in the ACC and in danger of ending its 34-year streak of finishing in the ACC's top three.

Starting at 9 p.m., in front of a national television audience and a packed Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils and Heels will square off in a game that marks the midway point for both teams in their conference schedules.

While playing the role of the odds-on favorite is nothing new for Duke this season, being picked to beat the Tar Heels is a new feeling for the Blue Devils.

"We've never gone into a [Duke-Carolina] game like this as the favorite," said Trajan Langdon, who will be playing in his last home game of the rivalry.

Indeed, in the five years that Langdon has been here, this is the first time that the Blue Devils have been clearly dubbed as the team with the most talent.

And while many Duke fans may see this as a good omen for a big Duke victory, past games have actually shown that Carolina thrives in games like this-during the Mike Krzyzewski era, the Tar Heels are 12-8 in games versus Duke when they have gone in as the underdog.

But Langdon and the rest of the Blue Devils know better than to overlook a quality North Carolina team that consistently finds ways to win year in and year out.

"With the rivalry, it doesn't matter," said junior Chris Carrawell. "These two teams are going to fight and play hard. It could certainly be a close game. Hopefully, for us, it won't be close, but it could come down to the wire again."

If the Tar Heels hope to keep it close and pull off the upset, one key will be shutting down Elton Brand. It is no secret that Brand is the focal point of the Duke offense, and stopping him would give North Carolina an excellent chance to steal a victory.

"We'd like to get the ball into Elton early," Shane Battier said, "so that the defense will really have to sluff down on him. [That way], we'll get a lot of easy, open looks on the perimeter."

In all likelihood, Carolina will look to double-down aggressively on Brand in an effort to make him turn the ball over and prevent the Blue Devils from getting in a flow offensively.

Such a plan will be predicated on tough perimeter defense by Cota and company so that Langdon and Avery can't get hot early. In essence, Carolina might take its chances with Duke's perimeter players, making them knock down the tough outside shots instead of allowing Brand too many easy looks in the paint.

Don't count on the Tar Heels, though, to change their style of play just because they are matching up with the Blue Devils.

"We are going to go out there and play hard the way that we've been playing all year long," said Tar Heel center Brendan Haywood. "If you come out and say [that you're] going to play above [your] game just because it's the Duke game, that means that you have been holding back the whole season."

For the Blue Devils, the key will be to disrupt Carolina point guard Ed Cota and take him out of his game. Cota is the Tar Heels' floor general and he leads the ACC in assists with 7.3 per game. Everything that Carolina runs is contingent on how well Cota sets it up.

"For Carolina, it all starts with Cota," said Carrawell. "He's their everything. He makes all of their big plays. The game plan, in my eyes, is to control [him]."

Whether Carrawell draws the assignment of guarding Cota, once again becoming Duke's defensive stopper, remains to be seen.

If Cota is allowed to play his game and drive and dish effectively, Duke will have a tough time containing frontcourt veterans Ademola Okulaja and Brendan Haywood.

If there is a weakness in Cota's game this year, it is his unusually high turnover rate. He is averaging 3.8 turnovers per game, and Duke will look to tire him out and force him into costly mistakes.

If the Blue Devils can prevent Cota from dishing off to Haywood and Okulaja for easy buckets, they will force less-experienced Carolina players such as Max Owens, Ronald Curry and Kris Lang to step up in a tough situation.

Both teams come into this game with a lot riding on the outcome. Carolina currently trails Duke by two games in the ACC standings, and its best chance of making up ground will come in head-to-head games. Duke would like to extend its lead over the Tar Heels and also stay a game up on Maryland.

In the rivalry, the home team has won the past four games, so a packed house at Cameron will give the team an added boost.

"In Cameron, it's just hot and the crowd is really into the game," said Cota. "Most of the time we play on the road, you never see the crowd standing up the entire game. I think it's great playing in there."

"Our crowd is huge for us," added Langdon. "You can see all the tents outside, the anticipation for the game, so they're going to be jacked and ready to go. It helps us get up."

Though both teams haven't played since the weekend, Carolina had a relatively easy time in a 52-40 win at Wake Forest on Saturday. The Blue Devils, however, will be playing on one less day of rest after coming off a draining overtime win over St. John's on Sunday. In that game, Avery and Carrawell played a combined 75 minutes between them-nearly 16 minutes above their normal averages.

In a game of this magnitude, though, Duke should have little trouble getting ready to play.

"If you can't get up for a game like this, you've got problems," said Langdon.

Notes: Tar Heel freshman Jason Capel will have to sit out of this game due to illness.... This game marks the 117th straight time that these two teams have played each other when one of them has been ranked in a national poll. This streak dates back to Feb. 25, 1955.