Duke-UNC, Take Two

Chris Carrawell knows how the script is supposed to finish.

Tomorrow afternoon he arrives at Cameron and goes through the usual pregame routine.

Then he takes the Cameron hardwood for the last time and basks in the cheers of 9,314 screaming fans.

Then he wins.

"Definitely it's going to be emotional, but once the game starts, you've got to get past that. I want to win," the senior said. "I don't want to go out losing. That's my whole thing. You gotta win that senior game.

"I know [North Carolina] would like nothing better than to spoil my Senior Day."

If Carrawell's Senior Day is anything like the first chapter of this year's rivalry, no one's afternoon will be spoiled.

When Duke and Carolina met in Chapel Hill in early February, Duke took a 19-point lead only to see the Tar Heels force overtime. The Blue Devils eventually prevailed 90-86, giving Duke its first four-game Tar Heel winning streak since the 1960s.

Jason Williams has a mild case of bronchitis, the same illness that affected Nate James two weeks ago. Williams will still play tomorrow, but he won't be 100 percent.

"I'd rather do nothing else," Williams said. "This is what I've been dreaming about since I was a little kid.

"It's going to be fun. This place is going to be crazy."

And while Williams' enthusiasm is nice, it's not like he has much of a choice.

Since Dunleavy's departure, Duke's depth has reached nearly unthinkable proportions. In the final minutes of Wednesday's Clemson game, even Andre Buckner saw playing time while the contest was still on the line.

Wednesday night, Duke found itself in foul trouble for the first time all season, and the results were not pretty. Both Carlos Boozer and Nate James fouled out, enabling a mini Clemson comeback.

"If everyone plays our smartest, we'll be okay," James said. "We know we're not that deep, we're down some men, so we have to come out and play our hardest and smartest.

"It's not okay for us to say because we don't have Dunleavy it's okay to lose. We all have to step up and put out 100 percent to make up for him until he returns."

Mike Krzyzewski can only breathe a sigh of relief that the conference race was wrapped up long ago.

And while Duke is seemingly fighting to save its physical life, the Tar Heels are fighting to save their post season lives. At 18-11 (9-6) in the ACC), Carolina is still likely to make the NCAAs, but any and all additions to the Tar Heel résumé would go a long way.

While surely tomorrow's matchup is not the most glamorous in the rivalry's history, when Duke and Carolina meet, a lot is at stake.

Tomorrow's game is about two ancient rivals and the hundred some-odd tents in Krzyzewskiville.

And it's about Duke's lone senior, who knows how he wants to finish the script. His way.