The No. 9 Duke Blue Devils will visit the No. 21 North Carolina Tar Heels, and here are some facts to know before the ACC matchup.
Duke vs. UNC Basketball preview
Duke (19-4, 7-3 ACC) is coming off an 81-77 loss at St. John’s on Saturday. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game that he drew up six plays during timeouts that day, but that his team failed to execute them.
“I don’t know what happened, if someone had a laser from the stands and said, I’m going to make you mind dead or whatever,” said Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils are third in their conference.
Meanwhile, UNC (17-7, 6-5 ACC) is sixth in the conference. The Tar Heels crushed Pittsburgh 96-65 on Saturday, a victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Krzyzewski said his players will need to work as a team and not as individuals, while sophomore center Marques Bolden said it’s impossible to truly prepare a freshman for a major contest against an opponent like UNC, especially on the Tar Heel’s home court.
“We just try to tell them to play their game and not play to the crowd or their environment because we know it’ll be an away game and a hostile environment,” Bolden said. “We just tell them to do what you’ve been doing and play hard.”
North Carolina is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NCAA. They rebound 38.2 percent of their misses, which is third best in the nation. Duke is first in the country in offensive rebounds, but has struggled with defensive rebounds.
UNC, led by coach Roy Williams, also ranks 15th in opposing 2-point percentage and 313th in opposing 3-point percentage.
Duke vs. UNC:
Date: Feb. 8, 2017
Time: 8 pm EST
Place: Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
TV Channel: ESPN
CHAPEL HILL, NC – DECEMBER 21: Joel Berry II #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives to the basket against the Northern Iowa Panthers during the game at the Dean Smith Center on December 21, 2016 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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