The #2 Duke Blue Devils host the North Carolina Tarheels at 9 pm EST on ESPN in one of college basketball's biggest rivalries. The ACC match-up pits the second- and fourth-best teams in the conference against each other. Duke (at 8-2) is two games behind Miami for the ACC lead, and UNC is a pair back of Duke (6-4).
The Blue Devils have won five games in a row since their only two losses of the season came in a three-game span in mid-January. Duke is 3-2 against ranked opponents, with wins over then#3 Kentucky, then #2 Louisville and then #4 Ohio State, all in November. Only a March 2 tilt with the Hurricanes remains for games against ranked teams.
Duke is led by Mason Plumlee in both scoring (18.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.7 rpg). He also has a team-best .610 shooting percentage. Quinn Cook leads the way in assists with six per game, and Ryan Kelly (.521) is the leading three-point shooter.
The Blue Devils outlasted the Boston College Eagles 62-61 in Chestnut Hill on Sunday, with Plumlee grabbing another double-double (19 points, ten boards). Seth Curry added 18 points, and the team's one point victory came from the same margin in the second half (35-34).
The UNC live stream is here (subscription required). The Duke live stream is here (subscription required).
UNC enters the game with the ninth-best offense in the country (78.3 points per game). The Tarheels are second overall in assists per game with 18 and fifth in rebounding (41.7 per game). Three of UNC's losses have come against ranked teams, with two of those being top-ten opponents (#1 Indiana in November and #8 Miami on Saturday).
James Michael McAdoo-- the third cousin of NBA Hall of Famer and former Tarheel Bob McAdoo-- is the team's best scorer with 14.9 points scored per game. He is also first in rebounding (8.2 rpg). Marcus Paige has 4.5 assists per game to lead the team in that category.
The Tarheels lost 87-61 to the Hurricanes in Coral Gables. Reggie Bullock had a team-high 14 points in the loss. Miami outshot UNC by 15-plus percent in both field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage while adding more rebounds, assists and blocks.
Then-#10 Duke upset then-#5 UNC 85-84 in Chapel Hill on February 8, 2012, but the Tarheels got the last laugh on March 3, winning 88-70 to stave off the #6 team and retain its #4 ranking.
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