Some Final Thoughts On Duke And UNC’s Saturday Clash

Buckle up.

The easy thing to think about Saturday’s visit from UNC - the lazy thing, really - is to assume that Duke has vast advantages that can’t be overcome.

And to be sure, this Duke team is good. It has a dominant defense and is the biggest roster in the country. And no one is just tall - everyone can play.

Toss in the super all-round talents of Cooper Flagg and the fact that it’s at home and it should be a blowout. Right?

Well, maybe.

History suggests that things can go sideways in this rivalry quickly.

In 2020 remember, it took Duke double overtime and two miracles to beat the Tar Heels 98-96. And UNC was just 10-13 at that point.

In 1995, Duke was struggling while Mike Krzyzewski was out with his back injuries and came into the Cameron installment 0-7 in the ACC.

That was a double overtime game too, with the Tar Heels winning.

In 1980, Mike Krzyzewski was a rookie coach with a hard to spell name. Duke was in deep trouble with no center and a thin roster. Didn’t matter: Gene Banks hit a long jumper over Sam Perkins to give Duke a 66-65 win - again in overtime.

In 1972, Robbie West hit a shot with :05 left to give Duke a 76-74 win over the Tar Heels. UNC was ranked #3 in the country; Duke finished that year 12-14.

And while we could go on, the point is basically made: the history of this rivalry is that emotion is often more important than talent.

In fact, we often see this pattern: one team, often the less highly ranked, gets off to an emotionally charged start and it takes a while for the other to catch up. Typically, that team pulls ahead and then it’s back and forth, more or less.

Still, it’s not at all unusual to see the team that’s behind with about 5:00 or so left rip off a good run to get back into it. That’s what happened in the Austin Rivers game and the two-overtime thriller in 2020.

We can think of many scenarios here, from Duke utterly blowing the smaller Heels out, to a shocking upset, to yet another overtime thriller.

UNC has some obvious issues - Jason Williams doesn’t like the on-court chemistry for one. They also tend to start slow for another and the inside game is way off historical standards.

Emotion is the key, though. This is the Big Game and we’d be shocked - and honestly a little hurt - if Duke got anything but Carolina’s best.