It’s the regular season finale for many teams this College Basketball weekend, including the North Carolina Tar Heels (20-11, 13-6 ACC). They’re a team that’s been directly on the bubble all season but has won six straight games to stay in the mix. But their next opponent is Duke (27-3, 18-1), who, with a win, would be No. 1 in the next AP poll.
The Blue Devils have dominated the ACC with plenty of blowouts. One was against North Carolina, winning 87-70 at home. For the Tar Heels to make the NCAA Tournament, there’s a good chance they’ll need to beat Duke either on Saturday at home or in the ACC Tournament.
Here are some keys to the game for UNC to get the home upset win.
Vintage RJ Davis game
Last year’s ACC Player of the Year leads UNC in scoring with 17.2 ppg and 3.8 apg. He’s had plenty of big games this season, but the first matchup versus Duke wasn’t one of them, scoring just 12 points on 4/11 FG. The Blue Devils’ defense shut him down completely, but Davis has to find a way to be more involved this time around. He’ll need at least 20+ points to have a chance, but he’s more than capable of doing so.
Ven-Allen Lubin’s continued good play
The starting big man for UNC has had his struggles this season, but he’s had a strong past couple of weeks, with five straight double-digit outings. One of them was a season-high 19 points to beat Miami. Lubin had just seven points in 21 minutes versus Duke, and he’ll have to go up against future 1st-round NBA Draft pick Khaman Maluach. But if Lubin can give UNC 10+ points, that’ll take needed pressure off the guards to do everything for UNC.
Slow down Kon Knueppel
There’s no real way that UNC can slow down star Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who has a great chance of being the National Player of the Year. He had 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the first round with the Tar Heels, and with their best lineups being small-ball, there’s really no way the Heels can stop Flagg. One player they can make moves on is Knueppel, who had 22 points on 7/11 FG shooting against UNC. The Heels can throw plenty of guards at him, and if Knueppel has an off-game, the underdogs could have a chance.