Duke basketball: Three keys to the rematch against North Carolina

Duke lost the first battle with North Carolina earlier in the season. Here are three keys for the Blue Devils to prevent getting swept.

Conference tournaments are officially underway in several mid-major leagues, but there are things to take care of from the power conferences. This is the last big day of regular season games, and the marque event comes at night between two of the biggest programs in all of college basketball.

When it comes to the ACC, the Virginia Cavaliers have won the regular season title, with wins over both of these teams to seal it. But there still is the matter of seeding that needs to be determined for the 2018 ACC Conference Tournament.

Right now, Duke 24-6 (12-5) controls the second seed for next week’s event, with a one game lead over a couple of teams. One of them is North Carolina 22-8 (11-6), who with a win would force a three-way tie, depending on what Clemson does. The Tar Heels would have the tie-breaker over Duke, because of the earlier 82-78 win on February 8.

A lot has happened for both teams since then, with Duke thriving without their best player, and North Carolina losing a seldom used freshman, who was suspended beforehand. But now, both teams are relatively healthy and looking to use this game for seeding in both the conference and the NCAA Tournaments.

For the Blue Devils, here are three keys to getting revenge from the earlier loss.