North Carolina Tar Heels Need the Rivalry Win Tonight More
The North Carolina Tar Heels will play the Duke Blue Devils in just a few hours. The rivalry games between the two have usually been some of college basketball’s best contests of the year. However this time around there is one team who needs to win more, and that would be the Tar Heels.
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At (9-3) in conference, Duke is comfortably in the top four of the ACC. The top 4 means grabbing a double bye in the current tournament format. At just 8-4, the Tar Heels are currently on the outside looking in at the double bye. So the Heels need the victory for better positioning in the ACC race.
North Carolina has also has lost three of its last four games. Those included an overtime loss to Louisville, a loss to Virginia, and a loss to Pitt where the Panthers were in control of the game the whole way. Pitt shot 65% from the field, which is a bad number if you are the North Carolina defense. A win against Duke might go a good way to right the ship. Not just because it’s a win over Duke, but the kind of effort this team would need to pull that off.
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The things that were working in mid-season have now seemed to unravel. The Tar Heels replaced JP Tokoto and Kennedy Meeks in the starting lineup. Meeks may be on his way back in after his effort against Pitt, and he may have been the only one who had a good game.
Tokoto, however, is a blessing and a curse on the court. He offers the best wing defender on the court for the Heels, but his offensive decision-making has been suspect. He’s also leaving shots short, which might be a confidence thing. Against Duke, you need him to harass Justise Winslow or Quinn Cook. However he has to be clean on the other end.
Taking Tokoto out of the starting five has opened other issues. Nate Britt or Marcus Paige becomes the mismatch on the opposing two guard. Teams have bullied or shot over Britt in the last couple of games. Cameron Wright had fifteen points and ten assists for Pitt. The Virginia backcourt had a big day too.
Finally, if the Tar Heels were supposed to beat Pitt for Dean, that idea failed. What better answer than to beat the nemesis of Smith’s later career, Coach K and the Blue Devils.