Basketball’s Greatest Rivalry – Part 3!
by Sharon Thorsland
It’s round three of Duke-Carolina, as the cross-town rivals meet up in the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament. The top-ranked Blue Devils (29-3, 19-1 ACC) are coming off a 78-70 win over Georgia Tech, but it was a costly one, as they lost Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown to injuries. The Tar Heels (22-14, 15-7 ACC) held off Wake Forest 68-59 as they continue to fight for an NCC Tournament berth. Tip-off is set for 7:00 tonight on WBT.
Duke will likely be without Flagg for this one, as their star freshman is dealing with a badly sprained ankle. Coach Jon Scheyer said it’s a “long shot” that Flagg will play, as the Blue Devils have bigger fish to fry. “It’s not about being ready to go tomorrow. That’s not the most important thing for us. We’ve got to see if we can get him right for this run that we can make in the tournament.”
So Flagg is probably out and so is Brown, who did plenty of damage against the Heels the last time out. But the Blue Devils still have Kon Kneuppel, who has been outstanding down the stretch – he had 28 points against Wake and 17 against UNC in the regular season finale. Big man Khama Maluach causes plenty of probes inside, and guards Tyrese Proctor, Isaiah Evans and Sion James are all offensive threats. And they’re confident they can get the job done. “It’s not really about one person, or two people,” said Evans. “It’s about Duke. Duke’s going to handle business all the time. That’s what we came here to do, to play ball.”
The Tar Heels have won eight of their last nine games, and in spite of struggling to score against Wake on Thursday, they’ve been one of the top offenses in the country during that streak. They’re looking for some revenge tonight after losing both regular season games to their rival. “We want that. We want that competition, we want our revenge against them. This gives an opportunity to get a win against them, and a chance to play in the championship.” The Tar Heels had a similar chip on their shoulders against Wake, and parlayed that into a victory. Can they do it against Duke? The Tar Heels are just 9-14 all-time against the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament, and even without Flagg and Brown they are a really tough team to beat. But it’s also really hard to beat the same team three times in one season, and the top seed in the tourney hasn’t won it since Virginia back in 2018. UNC needs to take advantage of Duke’s injury woes and find a way to advance to the finals. Go Tar Heels!