After suffering a crushing loss Sunday in front of the Cameron Crazies, the Blue Devils look to rebound in front of a crowd that will be far less friendly—that of the Dean E. Smith Center.
Duke travels down Tobacco Road to play North Carolina at 9 tonight, facing a team that has yet to lose on its home floor this season. The No. 10 Blue Devils (19-4, 6-2 in the ACC) will look to bounce back from their tough stretch by giving the Tar Heels their first home loss of the season.
“It’s an exciting atmosphere, and you’ve got to be ready to go from the jump,” junior forward Ryan Kelly said. “You’ve got to get some momentum heading toward the end of the season here, and we need a win.”
No. 5 North Carolina (20-3, 7-1) features the nation’s most proficient offense at 84.1 points per game, a number that jumps to 89.1 when the team plays in Chapel Hill. They are paced by sophomore Harrison Barnes, who registers 17.3 points per contest.
The 6-foot-8 forward will present a matchup problem for Duke, which lacks a traditional swingman. The Blue Devils’ tallest guards are Andre Dawkins and Austin Rivers, who each yield four inches to the reigning ACC rookie of the year.
Although Michael Gbinije, who stands at 6-foot-7, may have the ideal body to match up with Barnes, the freshman has fallen out of head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s rotation, not having played in the team’s previous five contests.
“That’s been a problem for us all year. We have a small perimeter,” Krzyzewski said. “We don’t have the versatility—we either have big guys or perimeter guys.”
Krzyzewski has almost exclusively played three of Seth Curry, Quinn Cook, Tyler Thornton, Rivers and Dawkins in the backcourt this season, along with two of Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee, Josh Hairston and Kelly up front.
But against the Tar Heels, who present difficulties with their size, the team may have to be flexible and provide help guarding players such as Barnes.
“I’m going to guard him and a lot of other guys are going to start on him and guard him first,” Rivers said. “I know there will be times in the game when I’ll be matched up on him. But, he has to guard me too.”
Rivers has been difficult to guard lately, averaging 16.5 points and 1.8 3-pointers in a six-game span in which he has notched double-digit points in each contest.
Beyond being the highest scoring team in the nation, Roy Williams’ squad is also easily the most prolific at rebounding with 46.3 boards per game. Tyler Zeller and John Henson stand at 7-feet and 6-foot-11, respectively, and combine for 29.6 points and 19.6 rebounds per contest.
Henson averages a double-double and 3.2 blocks, and he presents a challenge in the paint as the reigning ACC defensive player of the year.
“They’re the best front line in college basketball,” Krzyzewski said. “They’re big and they’re all very talented. That’s just something they have over everybody.”
Interior defense has been a struggle for the Blue Devils, who yielded a career-high 27 points to Reggie Johnson in Sunday’s loss to Miami. At 284 pounds, however, Johnson is a far more physical presence than Henson or Zeller, who rely on more of a finesse game beneath the hoop.
“You have to limit them to one shot,” Mason Plumlee said. “You can’t let them get second chance opportunities.”
Mason and Hairston have started the last two games for Duke, but Kelly and Miles played more minutes than Hairston, who spent much of the second-half comeback and overtime against Miami on the bench.
Similarly, Thornton and Dawkins started the previous two games but yielded more time to Curry and Cook, who played nearly all of the second half and overtime. Whoever plays in the backcourt tonight will have a difficult defensive task guarding Kendall Marshall, who is second in Division I with 9.8 assists per game.
Although Marshall is not a threat to score—he has registered double-digit points just twice this season—at 6-foot-4 he is more physical than most point guards and leads the Tar Heels in transition.
Cook, Curry and Rivers thrived in transition in Sunday’s second period, pressuring the Hurricane guards and moving the ball quickly.
“We’re at our best when we’re pushing the ball because we have a lot of scorers on the wing like Seth, Austin and [Andre],” Cook said. “North Carolina does the same thing, so it’s going to be a great game.”
This will be a tie-breaking game for Krzyzewski who is 36-36 in his career coaching against the Tar Heels. But, for the lone senior on Duke’s team, it will be his last chance to go to Chapel Hill and steal a win from the team’s nemesis in baby blue.
“This is my last chance to be a part of it. I want to go out on top,” Miles Plumlee said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.