ACC Tournament- #1 North Carolina vs. #5 Duke Preview

Written by Dan DeWitt

The greatest rivalry in college basketball and possibly all of sports will write another chapter tonight when ACC regular season champ, UNC meets Duke for the third time this season! It will be the first time the two blue bloods will meet in the ACC Tournament since the 2011 Championship game. This one will also stand as the rubber match as both teams held court and won at home this season.

This one does not have the importance of crowning the champion of the 2017 New York Life ACC Tournament, the Final Four, or even a NCAA game, but since when any of that matter when it comes to these two teams playing? This will also be a special one for me as I am here in Brooklyn covering the tournament alongside New York Life as an ambassador for the Heels and to break down the game for you guys! So let's get into it...

In the first matchup, the Heels played without starter Isaiah Hicks and got out rebounded by Duke. They were lead by ACC Player of the Year, Justin Jackson who poured 21 points and Joel Berry II with 15 points, but on 13 shots. Meanwhile, Duke knocked down 13 3- pointers and got 25 from Grayson Allen, 20 from Luke Kennard, and 19 from freshman Jayson Tatum, all in the second half.

Then on senior night in Chapel Hill, Carolina evened up the season series by getting a big night from senior Isaiah Hicks, 21 points, 9 rebounds and junior point guard Joel Berry II with 28 points going 5-5 from the 3-point line, all in the first half. The Heels had to overcome a poor shooting night from Justin Jackson who scored 15 points, but going 6-17 from the field, 1-7 from 3. Duke got huge night from runner-up in the ACC POY race Luke Kennard with 28 points and also had Grayson Allen, Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson, and Amile Jefferson all in double figures scoring. UNC did outbound Duke in this one and held Duke to just 6 made three-pointers, both of which will be key stats in this third meeting.

There will be no bigger stage for the rivalry outside of the NCAA tournament and maybe even a Final Four than they will be on Friday night. Played in New York at the Barclay’s Center on ESPN tipping off at 7 PM ET, it has all the making of another instant classic for 2 of the most storied programs in all of college basketball!

As mentioned above, rebounds and three-pointers will be key stats to keep an eye as well as the foul situation. Duke is not as deep as Carolina as Coach K regularly chooses not to go as deep into his bench as Roy traditionally does. Right along with fouls, are the free throws that accompany them as in the second matchup Duke shot 35 FT’s making 19 of their first 20 before missing some key ones down the stretch that allowed Carolina to pull away and take the game.

As is always the case when Duke is playing you have to watch Grayson Allen and any antics that come with that. In the second game he was called for a technical when he caught Brandon Robinson in the chin with his elbow, plus he has already been called for another technical foul here at the ACC Tournament after slamming the ball down and cursing in their first game vs. Clemson.

For UNC to be successful and move onto the championship game vs. the winner of FSU/Notre Dame on Saturday night, they must control the boards, pound the ball inside either scoring or taking advantage of Duke’s lack of bigs by getting them in found trouble, and limiting open 3’s for Duke. They must also limit at least one of, if not both Luke Kennard and Jayson Tatum.

Key’s for Duke will be controlling the pace of the game as this is will be their 3rd game in as many days with that shorter bench, getting big games from both Kennard and Tatum, and knocking down the open looks they get. They must keep the battle of the boards reasonably close and have to manage their matchups with Isaiah Hicks and Joel Berry II as they are the best at taking advantage of Duke’s switching defense.

Whatever the outcome, both programs will be fine going forward with high seeds in the NCAA tournament with North Carolina projected as a 1 seed and Duke as a 2. For the fan bases though, this one stands for all the bragging rights up until they meet again next February for the first time. Sit back or on the edge of your seat and enjoy this one, with the expanded ACC and the fact that neither team regularly needs the automatic bid to get into the NCAA tournament, it may be another 5 or 6 years before we get a 3rd matchup in a season.