The Duke Blue Devils are back as the number two-ranked team in the country and on Wednesday night they will put that to the test against their biggest rival at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham.
Duke and the Tar Heels are two of the highest scoring teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but based on each of their last games, neither team has been stellar on offense. Duke outlasted Boston College 62-61 on Sunday, while North Carolina was defeated by Miami 87-61 on Saturday.
The Hurricanes have made fools of both Duke and North Carolina recently, with the school defeating the Blue Devils 90-63 on Jan. 23rd, their worst defeat in a long time under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
North Carolina is the top scoring league in the ACC at nearly 80 points per game, but the team has been disappointing overall, going just 16-7 on the season, including 6-4 within the conference.
"We can't just think because of their record or their prior losses that they're going to come in here and it's going to be a blowout," Duke sophomore guard Quinn Cook said. " ... We have to really come in here and execute what coach wants us to do."
Duke is also averaging nearly 80 points per game, ranked just behind the Tar Heels in the conference. The Blue Devils are on somewhat of a hot streak after losing to Miami, winning five games in a row, including the win over Boston College. Duke was down by five with under three minutes to play, but took back the lead on a free throw from Mason Plumlee with 26 seconds remaining.
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams has done a good job of keeping his young players in check and he knows that the pressure will be on with the crazy fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tar Heels have gone just 3-5 on the road this season and are just 1-3 against ranked teams after the loss to eighth ranked Miami.
"We've got to be able to withstand some adversity in a hostile environment," Williams said. "... If the other team gets rolling and rocking, we have not bounced back in being able to handle that very well yet."
The Hurricanes have been the most impressive team in the ACC not named Duke, making a school-record 15 three-point shots against North Carolina in the win on Saturday. The team will face another tough test in Seth Curry, who is one of the best 3-poimnt shooters in the nation, averaging 16.8 points and shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range.
"That's all I really need -- rest," said Curry. "Get my shots up and try to focus on staying sharp."
Curry has been even better against the Tar Heels in particular, averaging 16.0 points in five career games against the Tar Heels while hitting 52.9 percent of his shots from three-point range. The Tar Heels will also have to look out Plumlee, who is one of only 14 players ni the nation to average a double-double in scoring and rebounding. In Saturday's win he posted 19 points and 10 rebounds while also hitting the crucial free throws.
Duke has been sub par at rebounding this season and Plumlee will be the main focus for a squad that is ranked 161st in the nation. The Blue Devils are 11th ranked in scoring and are high in assist and field goal shooting, ranking 34th and 27th respectively.
North Carolina is ranked 9th in scoring in the nation with 78.3 points per game and are much better at rebounding behind James Michael McAdoo, who has the team ranked 5th in the nation with over 40 per game. The team is ranked just 113th in shooting percentage from the field, but is second in assists.
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