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No. 3 North Carolina (25-5) will go for the season sweep against No. 4 Duke (26-4) on Saturday night’s Atlantic Coast Conference regular season finale against the visiting Blue Devils in Chapel Hill, NC.
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The Tar Heels have won six straight and is tied atop the ACC standings with Virginia. Duke has dropped two of its last five, including an 88-72 loss to North Carolina, and narrowly averted disaster in a one-point win Tuesday against Wake Forest. North Carolina is -4 ½ in this game over Duke.
Zion has Nightmares of Tar Heels
When these two teams met in Durham on Feb. 20, the buzz surrounded Duke’s talented freshman class participating for the first time in this storied rivalry. Now, some of the attention has shifted to three UNC seniors who’ve played in a lot of special moments and will be playing their final game in the Smith Center. Starters Cameron Johnson, Luke Maye and Kenny Williams will be honored as part of Senior Night.
This will be the 12th time Duke and North Carolina meet with both teams ranked in the top five, though the first time since February 2008. This week marks the first time all season that UNC has moved ahead of Duke in the Associated Press Top-25.
Tar Heels Having Great 2019
The Tar Heels have reached the 25-win mark for the 12th time in the 16 seasons coach Roy Williams has been with the program. They have won 15 ACC regular-season games for the first time.
“I do think throughout the course of the year our team has gotten better,” said Williams.
Maye is coming off a 17-point, career-high 20-rebound game against Boston College on Tuesday. The first 20-rebound outing for the program in three years.
Saturday’s game has a lot of fans wondering if Zion Williamson will be able to make his return for the Blue Devils. The star-studded freshman hasn’t played since the opening minute of the first meeting with North Carolina. Williamson suffered a sprained right knee after busting out of his basketball shoe. Some early speculation that Williamson might play, but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski sounded doubtful.
“I don’t think he’ll be ready for Saturday,” Krzyzewski said. “I have to be careful not to push this. I’d be surprised if he’s not ready by the ACC tournament.”
The rest of the Blue Devils believe they’ll be focused either way.
“If he plays, I’ll be happy,” Duke freshman forward RJ Barrett said. “If he doesn’t, we’ve got to still win without him. We’re prepared no matter what.”
Barrett set the school’s freshman scoring record in the game against Wake Forest. He now sits at 698, four more than Marvin Bagley III totaled last season. The Tar Heels say that Williamson’s status won’t cause a distraction.
“You’ve got to stay level and be ready to compete under any circumstance,” Johnson said.
UNC guard Coby White passed Michael Jordan on the Tar Heels all-time freshman scoring list. He also broke Jordan’s record for scoring in high school. White is the all-time leading scorer in the state of North Carolina.
Tar Heels Top Blue Devils
What a game we are expecting in Chapel Hill. Big news on whether Zion plays or not. Regardless, we are going to take the home team in a clean sweep of the regular season. Bet on the North Carolina Tar Heels -4 ½ over the Duke Blue Devils.
