Duke Basketball: 2020-21 keys to beat North Carolina Tar Heels at home

This season for Duke Basketball has been one step forward, then two steps back. In the week prior, the Blue Devils got huge wins over both Clemson and Georgia Tech to get themselves back into the bubble conversation.

Unfortunately, the two-game winning streak went away earlier this week when Duke fell to Miami, who was just 6-10 overall coming into the game. Despite having multiple key players out, the Hurricanes were clearly up for the challenge, keeping it close before taking the late lead and winning, 77-75.

The Blue Devils got a fair amount of offensive production overall, led by 21 points from Matthew Hurt. Wendell Moore, who has been individually playing well as of late, had 18 points. DJ Steward had 14 and Jalen Johnson put up 13 points. But the defense let them down, allowing Miami to make 7/13 from three-point range and shoot 53% from three-point range overall.

At 7-6 (5-4), the Blue Devils are in a must-win situation this Saturday. In a way, so is their opponent North Carolina (11-6, 6-4). The Tar Heels had a three-game winning streak coming into this week before losing at Clemson, 63-50. Day’Ron Sharpe had 16 points off the bench and was the lone player to reach double figures.

Last season, Duke won both matchups in the regular season. But it was a complete mismatch a year ago, as the Tar Heels were a complete disaster and the Blue Devils were a legit Final Four contender. Right now, neither team looks NCAA Tournament worthy and a loss would only put either of them back further.

Duke can’t afford to lose this game for both bragging rights and in Bracketology. Here are three specific keys for them to get the win.