Two and a half weeks after the Blue Devil’s classic, come-from-behind overtime victory against the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium, No. 3 Duke heads to Chapel Hill for the rematch against No. 19 North Carolina Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Dean E. Smith Center. Mike Krzyzewski’s squad has had an active couple of weeks following the first contest against the Tar Heels including a separate comeback, overtime win against Virginia Tech and an absolute throttling of Wake Forest on Senior Night. Here are three keys for Duke as it looks to sweep North Carolina and head into the ACC tournament on a strong note:
Get production from the bench
In their first meeting with the Tar Heels, the Blue Devil bench was outscored 32-7. After Semi Ojeleye decided to transfer to SMU in late December and Rasheed Sulaimon was dismissed from the team Jan. 29, Duke was left with just eight scholarship players to use the rest of the season. Because of that, the Blue Devils were left with just three players to consistently come off the bench and attempt to produce. Duke has yet to drop a game since it let go of Sulaimon at the end of January, but its bench has seen a noticeable decline as well.
However, in the games during which the Blue Devils have looked their best offensively, they have gotten solid production from the bench. In its 90-60 shellacking of the Fighting Irish, Duke outscored Notre Dame’s 24-18 in bench points on the back of Matt Jones’s 17-point game. During senior night—a game in which the Blue Devils found themselves leading at halftime 52-15—Duke outscored Wake Forest off the bench 35-13. The games the Blue Devils have struggled the most have been games during which the Duke starters bared the load almost entirely. For example, in the overtime victory against Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils were outscored 41-6 off the bench. If Duke wants to go into the Dean Dome and come out with a victory, its bench players are going to need to step up and significantly impact the game.
Make a dent on the boards
In the win Feb. 18, the Blue Devils—notorious for being fairly average on the boards—were beaten in the rebounding game by the second-best rebounding team in the nation just 49-46. This was essential to keeping themselves in the game as North Carolina attempted to seize complete control in the second half and then to complete a successful comeback as the final seconds waned. The Duke frontcourt will need to continue to do exactly that Saturday night if it hopes to move its winning streak to 11. Okafor averages the most rebounds per game among any player on either team at 9.4, but the Tar Heels feature the more balanced attack on the glass—they have seven players that average 2.9 rebounds or better compared to just five for Duke. Even the Blue Devil guards will need to box out effectively to control North Carolina’s attempts to grab second chances.
Don’t turn the ball over
On the whole, Duke has done a better job this year of not turning the ball over than North Carolina. The Blue Devils average just 11.5 turnovers per game (65th in the nation) against the Tar Heels' 12.6 (174th). But in the first installment of the Tobacco Road rivalry this season, it was the Tar Heels that took better care of the ball, winning that battle 16-11. At times, freshman superstar Jahlil Okafor has had issues keeping the ball in his hands in the post, particularly against a strong frontcourt—something North Carolina has.
In the first contest, Okafor turned the ball over five times, twice as much as he normally does (his season average is 2.7 turnovers per game). But he wasn’t the game high in turnovers—that honor belonged to classmate Tyus Jones. The Blue Devils will be looking for a clean victory Saturday instead of a second straight stress-induced game against their rival and keeping the ball in their own hands will be key to doing that.
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