ACC Basketball: Countdown to Craziness in Durham

By Stuart Gill | Feb 6, 2017

Dec 19, 2016; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils fans watch as Duke Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen (3) shoots a free throw in the first half of their game against the Tennessee State Tigers at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports /

ACC basketball league is all set for the biggest conference matchup of the year thus far between No. 12 UNC and No. 21 Duke.

The first of two long-awaited matchups between the biggest rivals in college basketball takes place on Thursday, Feb 9th with UNC heading down Tobacco Road to take on Duke at the Cameroon Indoor Stadium.

Related Story: Duke defeats Pitt in Coach K's first game back

Both teams were dubbed as strong contenders for the ACC title and the National Championship in the offseason, and both boast rosters that are stacked with talent. They each have also endured their share of disappointments throughout the year, and have a lot to prove during the final stretch of the regular season.

Tar Heel fans rejoiced when news broke that Duke’s No. 1 ranked recruit Harry Giles would miss time due to a knee surgery conducted before the season. Fellow highly sought-after freshman talents Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden would also miss considerable time at the start of the season. Without them, Duke dropped their second game of the year to Kansas on a last second Frank Mason III jumper, losing their No. 1 ranking and beginning a nose-dive through the top-25.

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Preseason Wooden Award favorite Grayson Allen was then suspended for his third tripping offense in less than a year. During his absence, the Blue Devils were blown out on the road by Virginia Tech.

Then Coach Mike Krzyzewski was forced to take a leave of absence for back surgery, leaving Jeff Capel at the helm for a month. They won their first game without Coach K, but Amile Jefferson went down with a foot injury. Duke would then drop match-ups against Florida State, Louisville, and NC State before the return of their invaluable head coach.

They enter Thursday night’s game at sixth in the ACC with a 6-4 conference record and are 18-5 overall. With all of their players (and coach) finally healthy, they are looking to right the ship in the final eight games of the season.

Meanwhile, North Carolina was picked to finish second in the ACC behind Duke by BleacherReport. Chapel Hill has impressed the nation, though, by remaining relevant despite losing two seniors who carried them to the National Championship a year ago, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige. Point guard Joel Berry II and wing Justin Jackson have stepped up to lead a squad that has gone 20-4 and now sits atop the ultra-competitive ACC with an 8-2 conference record.

While they have one of the highest winning percentages in the country (83 percent), the Tar Heels have struggled against solid teams such as Indiana, Louisville, and Kentucky. At times, they have just scraped by weaker ACC teams like Clemson, Wake Forest, and Pittsburgh, and they were surprisingly blown out by Georgia Tech in Atlanta in their last game of 2016.

How they play against Duke on the road will shed light on whether this team has what it takes to remain in first place in the ACC and play deep into March.

With all the drama on Duke’s end and UNC’s inconsistency against powerhouse programs, Thursday’s edition of “The Game” promises to live up to all the hype that has surrounded this match-up for decades.

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I’m predicting Duke comes out on top, 86-83, as they have played noticeably better at home this season, and UNC has struggled to play their best basketball against well-coached teams with high scoring ceilings this season. Coach K’s locker room punishment and his timely return also play a role: I believe this Blue Devils team wants this win more than UNC, and that intensity will shine through Allen and Jefferson.

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