In the days leading up to his last Duke-North Carolina game at the Dean E. Smith Center last month, Tar Heel senior forward Deon Thompson felt nothing short of optimism.
“This could be a great opportunity for this team to rally around this game and definitely come together to win [the remaining ACC games],” Thompson said.
Thompson’s uplifting statement did not materialize for the Tar Heels that night, as they went on to lose 64-54 after a 12-2 Duke run midway through the second half.The Blue Devils (25-5, 12-3 in the ACC) won five straight after that victory in Chapel Hill, leading up to Wednesday’s loss to Maryland which opened up the ACC title race once again.
If No. 4 Duke beats North Carolina (16-14, 5-10) Saturday at 9 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils guarantee themselves a share of the ACC regular season title. A loss, on the other hand, opens up the possibility of a second-place finish. However big the rivarly might be, it takes a former Duke star to put the game into perspective.
“It’s not just about the Duke-UNC rivalry—that’s the last thing [the players] are probably thinking about,” current Charlotte Bobcat Gerald Henderson said. “They’re thinking about the ACC title. If they keep that in mind, everything should fall into place.”
In Duke’s way is an improving Tar Heel squad that has gone 3-3 since that loss to the Blue Devils. This statistic, unusual coming from North Carolina, is a dramatic improvement upon the Tar Heels’ previous 2-7 record in conference play.
The play of the North Carolina upperclassmen has spurred their recent success. Junior guard Will Graves has finally found his offensive rhythm, averaging 16.7 points per game and 4.3 rebounds in his last three games.
In addition, senior guard Marcus Ginyard has averaged 9.3 points through the last four games. More importantly, he has been dominant on the glass, grabbing 9.8 rebounds per game.
And tomorrow night, the crowd at Cameron Indoor can rest assured that the Tar Heels’ juniors and seniors will bring their “A” game. They’ll be fighting for a possible NIT bid, but also for pride and an uplifting end to a devastating season. After all, these guys haven’t lost a game in Cameron yet, and they do not want to start tomorrow.
On the defensive end, the Tar Heels will be facing the most imposing trio of scorers in college basketball—Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. This “Big Three” has scored the vast majority of the points for the Blue Devils this season, averaging a combined 53.3 points per game. In Duke’s victory over Virginia Tech, the three stars combined for 63 of the Blue Devils’ 67 points. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t seem to mind the trio’s heavy scoring load.
“I encourage all three of those guys,” Krzyzewski said. “They have the proverbial green light.”
In order to win tomorrow night, the Tar Heels will hope to slow down that trio and force other Blue Devils to score. In its five losses this season, Duke’s other two starters have averaged only 7.8 points per game.
On the other hand, North Carolina will face its fair share of difficulties. First and foremost, the Tar Heels are without its starting center, sophomore Ed Davis. Davis, the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, is out for six weeks with a wrist injury he suffered against Duke.
This will likely neutralize what many consider to be the Tar Heels’ only true advantage over the Blue Devils—their frontcourt. With the departure of Davis, North Carolina will likely switch to sophomore Tyler Zeller and freshman John Henson to match up against Duke. However, given his recent surge into the national spotlight, Duke center Brian Zoubek may be too much for Zeller to handle.
But the ultimate challenge for North Carolina will be much greater in number—9,314 to be exact. A packed Cameron Indoor will be filled with its annual shipment of Tar Heel-loathing fans. Although this fact hasn’t seemed to affect North Carolina over the last few years, the Tar Heels have never been as vulnerable as they are this season. And while the Tar Heels and their proud faithful might give up anything to forget about their lowly season, you can bet the Cameron Crazies won’t let them.
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