By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — It’s a tall order for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels have faced height disparities all season, but nothing like they will at No. 2 Duke at 6:30 Saturday (ESPN).
The Blue Devils are the tallest team in the country, averaging 6–7½ per player, while the UNC is 322nd. The Tar Heels’ starters average between 6–4.2 and 6–3.2, depending on whether on the lineup.
Carolina (13–9, 6–4 ACC) will have to overcome that by pushing the tempo.
“Got to play with tremendous pace,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “One of the things that has been consistent with us has been our pace. When we do get a rebound and are transitioning from defense to offense, it’s been at a high level, and it’s going to have to be on a high level consistently on Saturday night.”
Duke (18–2, 10–0) has won 14 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country, and is 11–0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Its average winning margin in four ACC home games is 23.8 points.
The Blue Devils present the best combination of talent, height and length that UNC (13–9, 6–4) has faced since the Tar Heels’ 87–72 loss to Auburn on Nov. 26 at the Maui Invitational.
In that game, one national player-of-the-year candidate, Johni Broome, had 23 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Those are numbers that Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, another player vying for that award, could easily put up.
“There’s not many people, especially in college, with his size, who can not only create for himself, but so easily create for his teammates,” Davis said. “They just have a lot of moving parts on the offensive end that can hurt you, whether it’s around the basket with lobs and post-ups or being able to shoot the ball from 3.
Flagg is averaging 19.9 points (a league-leading 23.5 in ACC games), 8.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks.
Freshman guard Ian Jackson was Flagg’s teammate on the East team at the McDonald’s All-America Game in April and is familiar with the challenge UNC will face.
“He’s a great player,” Jackson said. “He can do it all on the floor, whether he’s scoring or defending. I feel like he always has a way to impact the game. His motor is high. He’s a great, great player. [There are] things that he doesn’t do well that we got to kind of force him to do and get him to do.”
All the matchups are daunting:
— Center Khaman Maluach (7–2, 250 pounds) vs. Ven-Allen Lubin (6–8, 230) or Jalen Washington (6–10, 235)
— Guards Tyrese Proctor (6–6, 183) and Sion James (6–5, 220) vs. Elliot Cadeau (6–1, 180) and RJ Davis (6–0, 180)
— Wings Kon Knueppel (6–7, 217) and Flagg (6–9, 205) vs. Jackson (6–4, 190) and Drake Powell (6–6, 195) or Seth Trimble (6–3, 195)
RJ Davis, who will be at least five inches shorter than anybody he’ll battle at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, says there’s a way to overcome all that.
“Just relying on our strengths,” he said. “We’re athletic, we’re quick, we can play in the open floor, and we’re really good on defense when we talk, and we’re all bought in. I think that that’s shown throughout the games that we played well and put together a lot of great defensive possessions together.”
The problem in many games is UNC’s tendency to go through stretches with repeated defensive lapses. With the margin for error particularly slim against Duke, the Tar Heels won’t be able to get away with any of those on Saturday.
“I know we’re capable of doing it,” RJ Davis said. “We have the talent from the starting guard all the way to the starting big and even the bench players. We’re just going to rely on our strengths a lot this weekend and just go with the sense of just trusting each other.”
When N.C. State did the unexpected and led Duke by 13 points late in the first half; the Wolfpack did it by making 7 of 12 3-point attempts before halftime. When the Wolfpack cooled off and made only 3 of 10 shots from outside the arc in the second half, Duke eventually pulled away for a 74–64 victory.
Any scenario where UNC has a chance to beat Duke will have to include multiple Tar Heels getting hot from 3-point range to open up the driving lanes, and that hasn’t happened in recent games.
Since UNC’s 11 3-pointers on 50% shooting in the 82–67 home win on Jan. 7 over SMU, when three players had at least three 3-pointers — Powell (4), Davis (3) and Jackson (3) — multiple Tar Heels have scored 3-pointers only twice: against Wake Forest (Davis 3 and Cadeau 3) and Boston College (Davis 2 and Jackson 2).
Davis has started to find the range more of late, though.
“I’m just happy for the way I’ve been persevering and obviously battling with a lot of mental thoughts and overthinking, second guessing myself while playing, especially early on the year,” Davis said. “These last three games, I kind of let go a little bit. I wasn’t really trying to be perfect, trying to tell myself, I have to make every single shot, because it’s not possible.”
Davis has made 11 of 27 3-point attempts (40.7%) in the last four games and 7 of 12 (58.3%) in the previous two.
“I just kind of told myself to let go, play with a sense of freedom,” he said. “And that has allowed me to be more free out there, allow my shots to go in, take smarter shots. I feel like I’ve been a little bit more aggressive. I felt like I’m coming along again, finding myself and being more confident.”
NOTES — Duke, a 13½ point favorite and -1,200 on the money line on FanDuel, is fifth in the country in field-goal percentage (37.2%). … RJ Davis has 2,514 career points and is two behind Virginia’s Bryant Stith (1989–92) for sixth on the all-time ACC scoring list. … In ACC games, Duke leads the league in scoring offense (81.1 points per game), scoring defense (61.0), scoring margin (+20.1), field-goal percentage (49.4%), field-goal percentage defense (39.2%), offensive rebounding (39.0 per game), defensive rebounding (26.9), rebounding margin (+12.1), assists (17.6 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.78). … UNC leads the league in 3-point percentage defense in ACC games at 28.0%. … This is the first time an unranked UNC team has faced a top-two team since the Tar Heels won at No. 1 Michigan State 79–65 on Dec. 3, 2023. … It will be the 263rd meeting, with UNC leading 145–11 and the 88th in Cameron Indoor Stadium, with Duke leading 47–40. UNC’s 40 wins at Duke is the most by any school (N.C. State is second with 26). … UNC swept the two meetings last season, winning 93–84 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 3 and 84–79 in Durham on March 9. … Hubert Davis, who went 6–5 as a player against Duke, is 4–3 against the Blue Devils as the head coach. … The “College GameDay” show will air from Cameron at 10 a.m. Saturday, with a crew that includes former Duke players Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg. … Dan Schulman, Bilas and Jessica Sims will be on ESPN’s call of the game broadcast. … Tyler Hansbrough, who went 4–0 as a player at Duke, will be the color analyst on the Tar Heel Sports Network.
UNC season statistics
Duke season statistics
KenPom comparison
| Category | UNC | Duke |
| Overall ranking | 39 | 3 |
| Offensive efficiency | 115.9 (48) | 123.2 (6) |
| Defensive efficiency | 98.3 (47) | 87.9 (3) |
| Effective FG% | 52.8 (92) | 56.0 (24) |
| Turnover % | 15.1 (36) | 15.6 (54) |
| Offensive rebound % | 27.9 (249) | 35.2 (40) |
| FTA/FGA | 35.7 (110) | 32.0 (213) |
| Strength of schedule | 11 | 38 |
Series: UNC 145, Duke 117
Last 10 games
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 9–0 | 20–1 | 2 |
| No. 22 Clemson | 8–1 | 18–4 | 31 |
| No. 17 Virginia | 7–2 | 18–3 | 18 |
| N.C. State | 7–2 | 16–6 | 26 |
| Miami | 6–3 | 17–5 | 39 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 5–3 | 17–4 | 25 |
| No. 20 Louisville | 5–4 | 15–6 | 17 |
| Virginia Tech | 5–5 | 16–7 | 56 |
| SMU | 4–4 | 15–6 | 34 |
| California | 4–5 | 16–6 | 51 |
| Syracuse | 4–5 | 13–9 | 78 |
| Stanford | 3–6 | 14–8 | 77 |
| Florida State | 3–6 | 10–12 | 102 |
| Boston College | 2–6 | 9–12 | 152 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–7 | 11–11 | 143 |
| Notre Dame | 2–7 | 11–11 | 85 |
| Wake Forest | 2–7 | 11–11 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–7 | 9–13 | 114 |
* — Through Saturday games
Saturday’s games
No. 16 North Carolina 91, Georgia Tech 75
No. 4 Duke 72, Virginia Tech 58
N.C. State 96, Wake Forest 78
No. 22 Clemson 63, Pittsburgh 52
No. 17 Virginia 73, Boston College 66
No. 23 Louisville 88, SMU 74
California 86, Miami 81
Florida State 88, Stanford 80
Syracuse 86, Notre Dame 72
Monday’s game
Syracuse at No. 16 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 17 Virginia, 9 p.m., ACC Network
N.C. State at SMU, 9 p.m, ESPN2
Wednesday’s games
Notre Dame at No. 20 Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia Tech at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
No. 22 Clemson at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Syracuse at No. 17 Virginia, noon
No. 20 Louisville at Wake Forest, noon, ACC Network
Virginia Tech at N.C. State, 1:30, The CW
Miami at Boston College, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Pittsburgh, 3:45, The CW
Florida State at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ACC Network
No. 4 Duke at No. 16 North Carolina, 6:30, ESPN
No. 22 Clemson at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at Stanford, 8 p.m., ESPNU
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 13 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 14 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 17 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 