After capping off a second consecutive undefeated season in Cameron Indoor Stadium in front of adoring fans Wednesday, the Blue Devils now get to travel to the venue where they are hated more than anywhere else in the country.
They know to expect a hostile reception, to put it mildly.
“They’re a team that had us beat in the first half [of the first meeting], so we’re going to have to be sharp and be ready to play,” senior Nolan Smith said. “We’re going into their house now, so we’re going to have to take the fight to them.”
With the regular season ACC Championship on the line, No. 4 Duke (27-3, 13-2 in the ACC) will face No. 13 North Carolina (23-6, 13-2) 8 p.m. Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
When the two teams last met on Feb. 9 in Durham, the Blue Devils rallied back from a 14-point deficit at halftime and mounted the program’s largest comeback win since 1959, thanks to sharp shooting from Smith and sophomore Seth Curry.
To say that the Tar Heels and their fans are eager for their chance at revenge would be an understatement. Right after the final buzzer sounded Sunday night in an 87-76 home win against Maryland, an audible chant of “We want Duke! We want Duke!” broke out among the Smith Center crowd.
Before taking on the Blue Devils, though, the Tar Heels had to travel to Florida State, where a last-second 3-pointer by freshman Harrison Barnes allowed them to escape with a 72-70 win. After the narrow victory, talk immediately turned to Saturday’s matchup.
“I feel like the last time we played them, we just made mental errors that can be mentally corrected,” shooting guard Dexter Strickland said. “I think that on Saturday, we’re going to win. I know we’re going to win on Saturday. I have a lot of confidence in myself and in my teammates. And if everybody has the same attitude I do, I know we’re going to win.”
Strickland also said that he felt that playing at home would give North Carolina a “little advantage.” All three of Duke’s losses this year have come on the road, and its two ACC losses knocked the Blue Devils from the top of the AP poll each time.
The Tar Heels’ recent six-game winning streak will not make Duke’s road woes any easier to overcome.
Last Sunday, while North Carolina was putting away the Terrapins, the Blue Devils let Virginia Tech come back within the last five minutes of the game to win 64-60. Curry, who was integral in the comeback win against the Tar Heels with 22 points, 18 of those in the second half, struggled mightily in Blacksburg, where his father had been a star guard for Virginia Tech. Curry fouled out after playing only 15 minutes and did not score any points.
He bounced back, though, against Clemson Wednesday night, scoring 18 points on a 6-for-13 shooting night. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski downplayed any thoughts that the sophomore’s struggles against the Hokies would impact future games.
“I think a bad player goes into a funk,” Krzyzewski said. “A good player says, ‘I played poorly.’ If he goes into a funk, he shouldn’t have a Duke uniform on.”
While Curry appears to be back on track, North Carolina will be missing a key reserve Saturday. Freshman Reggie Bullock, a former McDonald’s All-American who was averaging 6.1 points in 14.5 minutes this season, will be out for the rest of the year with a knee injury. The Tar Heels have had to play most of the season with limited depth due to two summer transfers, the dismissal of a player for breaking team rules right before the season started and the surprising departure of Larry Drew II last month.
With North Carolina’s shortage of scholarship players and Duke’s shooters back on track, the Blue Devils may take their second win this season against the Tobacco Road rivals.
But as the teams’ last matchup shows, even with a depleted lineup, the Tar Heels are a dangerous team.
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