There’s no doubt about it: Nolan’s rolling. The Hurricanes have their work cut out for them this weekend, and Nolan Smith’s performance against North Carolina Wednesday night may incite a bit of déjà vu for Miami.
If you need to refresh your memory, think back to the ACC season opener Jan. 2. 28 points. Back-to-back-to-back 3-point shots. A little bit of “bloodshed,” in the words of the senior guard.
Round two of the matchup takes the No. 5 Blue Devils (22-2, 9-1 in the ACC) to the BankUnited Center in South Florida Sunday at 6:45 p.m. If the game is anything like the last—a 74-63 Duke victory—it will be an anticlimactic end to one of college basketball’s rivalry weeks.
With a career-high 34 points and impressive leadership in the second half against the Tar Heels, Smith proved that the Blue Devils have moved on from their last trip to the Sunshine State, when they suffered their first loss of the season to Florida State, and are ready to take their place at the head of the conference.
“We played a great, great second half,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Wednesday night after the win over the Tar Heels. “I’m proud of our guys. We grew up a lot tonight.”
Smith isn’t the only Blue Devil that the Hurricanes have to worry about. Sophomore Seth Curry is also coming off a career-high scoring night in a Duke jersey against North Carolina. This performance may just give him the confidence he needs to make up for his lack of impact on the scoreboard when he last faced Miami.
The Hurricanes (15-9, 4-6) are “getting better” according to Krzyzewski, but after Wednesday night’s contest it will be tough to stop Duke’s forward momentum.
“It shows our league is very tough,” Smith said Wednesday night. “With Carolina and Duke as two of the top teams in the country, people are going to start to mention our conference with the best.”
Krzyzewski has high hopes for the ACC this season as well, including Miami, although it may be too early to tell whether his predictions are realized.
“I still think we can get five or six [ACC] teams into the NCAA Tournament,” he said.
Though Sunday’s game won’t have quite the atmosphere displayed at Cameron Indoor this week, it is an important conference game, nonetheless.
As Krzyzewski said after the last win over Miami:
“You don’t win one of those [banners] without showing up every day in our conference. You don’t play for your total record. You play for your ACC record.”
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