The Thrill in Chapel Hill this Thursday will be a date with the Devil from the other side of town, as Tobacco Road's fiercest rivalry is renewed. Head men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and the top-ranked Blue Devils travel a few miles down 15-501 for a head-on collision with the No. 17 Tar Heels in the Dean Dome tonight, looking to post their 16th consecutive victory and continue their recent dominance over their arch-nemesis.
The game marks Roy Williams' much-anticipated first game against Duke at the helm of North Carolina (13-5, 3-4 in the ACC), and Tobacco Road is brimming with excitement at the renewal of a rivalry that has been all but one-sided the past two years. Duke (18-1, 7-0) has claimed 12 of the past 14 meetings between the teams, including four of the past five in Chapel Hill, but Williams' arrival changes the tenor of the confrontation.
"You can tell it is more intense of a rivalry now that he is here," sophomore guard Rashad McCants said. "It is more anticipated than it was before. [I'm] just waiting to see...how the game is going to be coached with two of the best coaches in college basketball. I'm excited."
Senior Chris Duhon and the Blue Devils are attempting to tune out the distractions of the contest and simply focus on basketball.
"We're doing our game plan just like we do for any other team," he said. "We scout them and we're going to exploit what we think are our strengths and their weaknesses, and hopefully we'll get the better matchups."
Duhon's strategy sounds simple enough, but the Blue Devils still have to execute against a North Carolina squad loaded with talent. The Tar Heel attack is orchestrated by point guard Raymond Felton, who has established himself as one of the better floor generals in the nation. After one walk around the ACC block, Felton has displayed poise and patience this season, averaging 11.7 points and 7.9 assists per contest.
On the wing for the Tar Heels will be standout sophomore McCants, who leads the ACC in scoring with 18.9 points per game despite being plagued by inconsistency. McCants hit the biggest shot of UNC's season thus far, burying a game-winning three-pointer in the closing seconds of UNC's 86-83 victory over then-No. 1 Connecticut, but he's also struggled at times. In an earlier contest at Kentucky, McCants tallied only four points, and was repeatedly benched by Williams. Duke guard Daniel Ewing will most likely draw the task of defending the prolific McCants, marking the third consecutive game Ewing has guarded one of the league's leading scorers. In the past two contests, Ewing has had his hands full with Florida State's Tim Pickett and Georgia Tech's B.J. Elder, but McCants has the potential to be his most difficult assignment to date. "You really can't rely on making shots every night," Ewing said. "What you can rely on is playing good defense.... We know we're not going to shoot the ball well every night. As a result of that we've been able to do that [defense] and it has helped us win some games where we didn't play as well on the offensive end." The Blue Devils' leading scorer, J.J. Redick, will be the focal point of an active UNC defense that averages 11 steals per game. Although the Tar Heels are known to slip into a 2-3 zone, there will undoubtedly be someone keeping an eye on Redick. The constant pressure on the Blue Devil guard could potentially leave Duhon and Ewing with open looks, and Williams isn't looking forward to playing a team with so many weapons and strengths. "They are a well-balanced team," Williams said. "I think that's why they have won so many games in a row. There's not one specific thing that you can be concerned about because of how well-rounded they are, and they really don't have any holes that you can aim at." Duke's weapon inside, Shelden Williams, will find space in the Carolina-blue paint heavily contested by Tar Heel center Sean May. May's brute force and soft touch around the basket make him a difficult cover for any big man in the country, but Williams has proven himself an effective shot-blocker and inside scorer in his own right. Both sophomores have displayed shades of brilliance this season, and their familiarity with each other-they roomed together this summer at Michael Jordan's flight school-should only add to the intensity of their battle. "I am really excited," May said. "We talked about [the matchup] a lot this summer. Shelden is a great player having a tremendous year and doing really everything for that team. I am just looking forward to playing against him." That sort of anticipation and familiarity serve as the hallmark of college basketball's premier rivalry, which begins a new era Thursday night with Roy Williams taking his first shot at Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils. Regardless of the outcome, one thing is certain-the rivalry is back. "Duke and Carolina...is the game you wait for all year," McCants said. "I am definitely psyched."
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