The 2021-22 college basketball season was memorable for a number of reasons, not the least of which were the outstanding games we saw from the sport’s most illustrious rivalry – North Carolina vs. Duke Basketball.
When the two teams met on February 5, 2022, in Chapel Hill, the No. 9 ranked Blue Devils ran the unranked Tar Heels off their own court, winning by 20 points.
On March 5, the still-unranked Tar Heels visited Durham, to take on the No. 4-ranked Blue Devils in Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke entered the game as an 11-point favorite but ended up losing by 13 points in a crushing defeat for Duke in Krzyzewski’s final home game. Armando Bacot, Brady Manek, Caleb Love, and RJ Davis all scored at least 20 points in the game.
Finally – for the first time in the history of college basketball’s greatest rivalry – Carolina and Duke met in the NCAA Tournament. Not only did they meet in the NCAA Tournament; they met in the Final Four.
For most of the season, UNC fans were disheartened by the team’s performance, highlighted by the 20-point loss to Duke in February. In March, they won an enormous moral victory, beating Krzyzewski in his final home game. In April, the Heels were in the Final Four with a chance to send Coach K into retirement and make the national championship game.
Carolina did exactly that, beating Duke 81-77 in what will go down as one of the greatest NCAA Tournament games of all time. While Krzyzewski retired as arguably the greatest coach in the history of college basketball and with a 50-48 record against Carolina, he went out on a sour note, losing to the Heels in his final home game and in the Final Four.
From 1961-2020, either North Carolina or Duke was ranked in the AP Top 25 in every one of their matchups. For the third time in the last three seasons, UNC and Duke will meet with neither team ranked.
Both teams are 7-4 in the ACC and somewhere between a six to eight seed in most bracketologists’ projections. Neither team has been able to sustain consistent success.
For Duke, a win over Carolina would mark their first three-game winning streak in ACC play this season, which could be exactly what they need to jump back into the AP Top 25 on Monday.
Here are three keys for Duke to beat North Carolina on Saturday night.