Duke Basketball: 2021-22 keys to beating North Carolina on the road

Try to Contain Armando Bacot on the Glass

North Carolina averages an impressive 41.0 rebounds per game, but they have only one player who averages more than six rebounds per game; Armando Bacot who averages 12.5 rebounds per game, and has grabbed as many as 22 this season, which he has done twice.

Bacot is responsible for 30.4% of North Carolina’s rebounds, which means if Duke is able to box him out and keep him from getting rebounds, they will almost certainly win the rebounding battle, which is obviously very crucial when it comes to winning the game.

Duke doesn’t have any players who average double-digits when it comes to rebounds, as Paolo Banchero leads the team in rebounds per game with 8.3, while Mark Williams averages 7.1. As a whole, Duke isn’t a great rebounding team, they come in at 37th in the nation in rebounds per game with 39.1, while North Carolina comes in at 11th.

That being said, this game could be won and lost on the glass, and if that’s the case, and Armando Bacot is able to grab 12 or more rebounds, then the Blue Devils might be on upset watch on Saturday night.

The good news for Duke however is that they’ve given up 35 or more rebounds only five times this season (one of those games went to overtime), but they hold a 3-2 record in those five games. and hold a record of 14-6-1 overall when it comes to the rebound battle.

So while Duke might not be an elite rebounding team, they have at least been good enough in 14 of their 21 games, in order to out-rebound their opponent, and if they want to improve to 15-6-1, they’ll have to do a good job of boxing out Bacot and keeping him off the glass.