Frank Lorenzo
(3) Duke Blue Devils (-1, 153.5 o/u) at (19) North Carolina Tar Heels
The last time the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils (27-3, 14-3 ACC) and the No. 19 North Carolina Tar Heels (27-3, 14-3 ACC) clashed, fans were treated to an epic battle that saw Duke rally for a 92-90 OT win. Now, the Tar Heels will look for revenge when they host the Blue Devils tomorrow at the Dean E. Smith Center (9:00 p.m. Eastern).
The Blue Devils come into tomorrow’s game winners of ten straight, most recently obliterating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 94-51, on Wednesday. Grayson Allen scored a season-best 27 points in the rout.
“It wasn’t really me waiting for a chance — it was me being able to translate it into the game from practice,” Allen said after the game. “Coach has been giving me opportunities, and I was able to capitalize today. This is the type of game to get my confidence going.”
At 14-3 in ACC play, the Blue Devils can’t catch Virginia for top spot in the conference, nor can they fall below second heading into the ACC tourney.
Unlike Duke, UNC is still battling for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament. At 11-6 on the year, the Tar Heels are tied with Louisville for fourth in the ACC.
Since letting that lead slip away against Duke in mid-February, the North Carolina has responded with three wins in its last four games, including two straight on the road. Their 81-49 romp over Georgia Tech on Tuesday came with freshman Joel Barry scoring a career-high 15 points.
Barry’s big game against the Yellow Jackets has him feeling confident heading into tomorrow.
“Coach told us don’t worry about Duke until we get this game over with,” Berry said. “Now our mind is on Duke, and it gives us a lot of momentum.”
Duke is 6-1 SU in its last seven games on the road. When Duke and UNC meet in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils are 4-2 SU in the last six and the total has stayed under in six of the last seven.
At the moment, Duke is a one-point road favorite and the o/u is at 153.5.
(Photo credit: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)
