Duke, Carolina Battle for First Place in ACC

Winner of rivalry game will emerge atop the league

The last time UNC and Duke met, the Tar Heels won a 91-73 decision over the Blue Devils at the Smith Center. After the handshakes between the two teams were over, as the Tar Heels left the floor, Roy Williams took a moment to kiss the North Carolina logo at center court.

Perhaps disingenuously, perhaps having not yet made up his mind, Williams denied there was any significance to the moment, saying he was just celebrating the completion of a successful home season. But 26 days later, Williams announced his retirement, turning the program over to Hubert Davis.

So, on Saturday, Feb. 5, for the first time in exactly 18 years—since Feb. 5, 2004, Williams’ first season with the Tar Heels—the best rivalry in sports will have a new character in one of the head coaching seats.

How will Davis, who has seen his Tar Heels struggle with inconsistency this season, approach his first Duke game as head coach?

Davis is intense in the locker room, on the practice court and in the time out huddles and knows the rivalry from a player’s perspective. The Tar Heels went 6-5 against the Blue Devils during his playing career. But he’s also shown a soft hand when he senses his team needs it. How will he approach getting the team at the right frequency in a game loaded with distractions.

That alone would add a compelling storyline to a rivalry that certainly doesn’t need a new one. But Davis’ debut against the Blue Devils will likely be placed on the back burner on Saturday night. That game will be the last trip to the Smith Center for legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has announced his retirement after this season.

That means next year, the rivalry will once again have a new face on the sideline in current Duke assistant Jon Scheyer, already announced as Coach K’s replacement.

The two-year span that starts on Saturday will be the first time in 98 years that both head coaches in the UNC-Duke rivalry will have changed in back-to-back seasons. In 1924-25, Duke coach J.S. Burbage was replaced by George Buckheit. The following season, UNC coach Monk McDonald was succeeded by Harlan Sanborn. UNC won all four of the games with Duke during those two transition season, which wasn’t a surprise, since it was part of UNC’s 17-2 record against Duke in the first 19 games of the rivalry.

As the rivalry enters a once-a-century period of transition, the outgoing Krzyzewski will be the center of attention. Coach K is in the midst of a farewell tour, with each road venue Duke travels to finding a way to honor the Hall of Famer. In Louisville over the weekend, he was given a personalized Louisville Slugger bat and bottle of bourbon. On Monday night, he had an emotional farewell at Notre Dame with former assistant Mike Brey, who has had more success against Krzyzewski than any other member of his coaching tree while coaching the Irish.

In Duke’s third straight home game, the farewell tour will hit a bit of a speed bump. A report came out last week that UNC did not plan to do anything to honor Krzyzewski’s last trip to Chapel Hill. His retirement will be mentioned during the team introductions, but there will be no gifts, no special ceremony or anything like that.

That’s a departure from 2015, when Duke held a moment of silence, with players from both teams arm in arm, in honor of Dean Smith’s death, and Carolina presenting Coach K with a plaque commemorating his 1,000th career win.

That could signify a cooling in Duke-UNC relations, which had thawed significantly with Hall of Fame coaches Williams and Krzyzewski guiding the rivalry through the last 18 years. The two were friendly and respectful, even as the play on the floor was intense.

Davis was a senior on the Tar Heels for the famous “bloody Montross” game, as physical play opened a cut on UNC center Eric Montross’ face. Scheyer was a freshman in the game where UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough suffered a broken nose from Duke’s Gerald Henderson. Both coaches will likely feel more strongly about the rivalry than their predecessors.

In addition, the rivalry has also seen its intensity turned up when a new face entered the fray. Early in his Duke tenure, Krzyzewski famously railed against the “double standard” in the ACC, essentially saying Dean Smith gets all the calls. Matt Doherty, another former Tar Heel player turned coach, called the Duke cheerleaders “the ugliest in the ACC” during a time out huddle. So the Tar Heels choosing not to recognize Coach K is in keeping with tradition.

Plaque or none, ceremony or no, once the game tips off, all pregame hoopla will be forgotten and the latest character in the Carolina-Duke rivalry will begin writing his chapter, even as the coach on the other bench turns the final page. 

Very late notification on the officiating crew for the game, but it will be Ron Groover, Bert Smith & Clarence Armstrong

The starters:

For Duke: Wendell Moore Jr., Mark Williams, Jeremy Roach, AJ Griffin, Paolo Banchero

For UNC: Leaky Black, Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Brady Manek, Armando Bacot

Duke out fast, leading 11-2. Bacot picks up two quick fouls. UNC's threes aren't falling. Very bad signs for team in light blue 

UNC misses its fifth three in six attempts and loses the rebound out of bounds, taking us to the under 16. Duke leads 15-5. Blue Devils have hit six of seven shots

UNC completely out of sorts, shooting 3-of-14. Eight of their first 12 shots were from three, and some of the misses haven't even been close. Duke leads 26 to 8 at the under 12 and an early knockout could be in the offing if things don't change. 

Manek drives the lane and dunks, bringing the crowd back into it. Bacot not afraid of picking up his third foul. Blocks Banchero from behind, then takes a charge from John on back-to-back plays. Building is loud, but Duke still leads 33=15 at the under 8

Brady Manek has UNC on his back. Hits a three to cut the lead to 14, 37-23. Duke calls time out. Manek has 14 of UNC's 23 points 

Mark Williams picks up his second foul, joining Jeremy Roach. Bacot & Love have two for UNC

UNC has a shot to cut it to single digits at the half, but Davis' buzzer beater hits the back rim. Duke leads 39-28. 

Duke was dominant early, but two developments stopped the bleeding for UNC--Roach's second foul, which seemed to affect Blue Devils on both ends, and UNC moving Black to Banchero on defense, which shut him down

AJ Griffin scores the first eight points of the second half. Bacot doesn't hit rim on his first two attempts, and UNC is back in a 19 point hole

Make that the first 10 points of the half for Griffin, time out UNC, Duke up 49-28

Banchero goes to the floor (the only player on either team that did) for a loose ball. Ref calls it a held ball, and we go to the under 16. Duke is up 55-32, matching the game's largest lead

Manek hits a three as UNC goes on a mini run to cut the lead to 57-41 at the under 12

Teams are trading buckets right now. Duke calls time out. 8:39 up, Blue Devils up 68-51.

Duke on a 6-0 run to put the lead at 28 as we hit the under 4. 85-57, and we're just playing out the clock here

And Duke dribbles out an 87-67 win, its biggest over UNC since 2010 and biggest at Smith Center since 2002