ACC Basketball power rankings: Pittsburgh, Clemson rises, Miami and Syracuse falls
2. Duke Blue Devils - 20-5 (11-3)
After losing to North Carolina, the Blue Devils have handled business, winning four straight games. That includes a 77-69 win over Wake Forest, with forwards Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski each having 20+ points. And in the 76-67 victory over Florida State, freshman Jared McCain went off for 35 points on 12/20 shooting, including 8/11 from deep.
Duke now has its toughest week of the season outside of UNC, with road games at Miami and Wake Forest. They’re two teams who desperately could use a Quad 1 win, while the Blue Devils are looking to keep pace for an ACC regular-season title. It’s going to be a big battle for the Blue Devils, who still have some tough games before the UNC rematch.
1. UNC Tar Heels - 20-6 (12-3)
The past few weeks have been inconsistent for the Tar Heels, going 3-3 overall. This past week alone, they gave up 86 points in a seven-point loss to Syracuse, before bouncing back to beat Virginia Tech at home, 96-81. Armando Bacot went for 25 points and 12 rebounds, while RJ Davis, who still leads the league in scoring (21.3 ppg), had 20. Harrison Ingram pulled down 17 rebounds as well.
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UNC can’t afford to keep losing games if they want to win the regular-season title but they have a tough couple of games ahead. The lone matchup this week for them is on the road at Virginia, the most important ACC game of the week. A Tar Heel loss would officially make this a 3-time race for the regular-season title.