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PREVIEW: The key to Duke staying undefeated at home against rival UNC

Jordan Davis

DURHAM, NC — The Duke Blue Devils (16-6, 7-4 ACC) will face off against their long-time rival North Carolina Tar Heels this evening with hopes of staying undefeated at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Tar Heels are fresh off a rough loss to Pitt down the stretch this week while Duke is coming off a nail biting win over Wake Forest on Tuesday.

Despite the tenured history between the two teams, there will be history made once again at tip-off tonight. Duke and UNC will face each other as unranked opponents from the AP Top 25 Poll for only the third time in the last 100 years.

Also, this will be Jon Scheyer’s first matchup against the Tar Heels as head coach since replacing Basketball Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski in April.

“As a young kid I used to watch this game, so I’ve seen the heights,” Scheyer told media yesterday. “To me it is the best rivalry in sports, no question about it. I’ve been apart of nearly 30 games between us and UNC as a player and a coach and I know we have to focus on keeping the main thing the main thing and make winning plays. They’re a really good team.”

A huge key to the Blue Devils winning this matchup is limiting the Tar Heels from scoring in large proportion at the rim and winning the rebound battle. The Tar Heels duo in their frontcourt features forward Armando Bacot, who leads the ACC in rebounds with 11.4 per game, and Pete Nance — who averages 15 points and nearly eight rebounds when UNC plays on the road this season.

“There’s always excitement when it comes to this game,” freshman big man Dereck Lively II told me on Tuesday. “I just know everybody here is ready to put the work in these next couple of days so we can get our bodies, our minds and our game right for this game. You know this is very important to us so we’re going to try our best and do our best.”

Lively struggled throughout the first weeks of the season after being in and out of the lineup with a calf injury and an illness. In the new year, the Philadelphia native seems to have finally found his stride as the rim protector Duke envisioned him to be. Over Duke’s last five games, Lively is averaging nearly three blocks a game and seven rebounds.

“Dereck has worked his butt off. He’s in here every morning with the training staff and after practice stays to study film,” Schetyer told reporters Tuesday. “Preparation leads to confidence and he’s been a game changer for us. I’m really proud of what he’s done.”

In order for Duke to win this game, their frontcourt duo of Lively and Kyle Filipowski will need to man the interior like they have all year. Duke leads the ACC in team rebounds with nearly 40 a game and will need everything it takes to win the battle of the board tonight.

With the Tar Heels playing through Bacot for most of the year, Lively has to use his 7’7 wingspan and 7’1 frame to stay level headed and defend him without fouling. Bacot is a bruiser who also has trouble defending in pick and roll action, so Blue Devils starting point guard Tyrese Proctor will have to look for Lively as lob threat in their action.

“Obviously that final four loss still sits sick in my stomach for sure, but I’m trying not to get too caught up in that,” Duke team captain Jeremy Roach told me Tuesday. Roach was a starter on the Blue Devils team that faced off against the Tar Heels in the Final Four last year. “We know UNC is a hell of a team and they’re going to come in very hungry so we just have to match their intensity.”

Expect this one to be as intense as ever as Duke looks improve to 12-0 in Cameron Indoor Statdium this year at 6:30 PM ET on ESPN.