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Duke (19-3, 9-2) at North Carolina (10-12, 3-8) – 6:00 PM EST (ESPN)
I know that a lot of people like to pooh-pooh a rivalry when one team is having an unusually down year, but we at Hoops HD never overlook a rivalry, whether it is Duke-Carolina or Kentucky-Louisville or the Arch-Baron Cup. And so tonight, we feature a pair of teams that have never met in the NCAA Tournament and are only eight miles apart. (They did meet in the semifinals of the NIT in 1971 with Carolina winning 73-69.)
Duke started the season looking very much like a team poised to be #1 in the country, and they beat Kansas in the season-opening Champions Classic. There have been occasional hiccups like a home loss against SFA and a road loss at Clemson, but the Blue Devils have managed to stay atop the ACC while usual suspects like Carolina and Virginia are either in the middle of the pack or at the bottom.
And North Carolina? The season looked promising at the start – they did get a win against Oregon down in the Battle 4 Atlantis before injuries slowly began to take a toll on their roster. A blowout loss at home to Ohio State was the first warning sign, and even when Cole Anthony returned from nearly a month-long injury to return to the Carolina lineup in late January, they still stumbled with a home loss to Boston College. However, a depleted Tar Heel lineup did manage to win at NC State and might be a game that costs the Wolfpack an NCAA bid next month.