Men's Basketball Spotlight Game of the Weekend: #7 North Carolina at #9 Duke

The second installment of the Battle for Tobacco Road is the game to watch in the regular season finale.

JD Andress | Mar 8, 2024

Men's Basketball Spotlight Game of the Weekend: #7 North Carolina at #9 Duke /

We made it. The last weekend of the regular season before conference tournaments start, and is there a more fitting game to end this chaotic season than one of the most heated basketball rivalries in the country with the conference title at stake?

North Carolina Star- RJ Davis / © Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

In their first matchup of the season, North Carolina held off for a double-digit win against their rivals, Duke, 93-84. Once again, the pressure will be on Duke to win, as a victory would give them a share of the ACC title with the Tarheels.

RJ Davis and Armando Bacot will lead the Tarheels. Davis is one of the nation's premier guards and is currently ninth in the country with 21.5 points per game. Bacot, the team's starting center, had a season-high 25 points and ten rebounds in UNC's first matchup against the Blue Devils. If North Carolina hopes to win this one, they will need big games from both Davis and Bacot.

On the other hand, the Blue Devils have their own duo they will rely on for a win. Tyrese Proctor will play a pivotal role in slowing down RJ Davis's offensive production while hoping to put up a better stat line in this game than the first matchup (two points, two assists, three rebounds). The offensive production will come from Kyle Filipowski. The second-year guard is averaging 16.5 points and eight rebounds over his last ten games.

One thing to watch in this game is if Duke can take down their rivals, will they storm the court after the previous incident with Filipowski, or will they refrain and stay true to their fans' words that it is a useless part of the game?

The matchup will occur on Saturday, March 9, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Other Notable Games

#14 Kansas at #1 Houston
#15 Kentucky at #4 Tennessee
#8 Marquette at Xavier
#11 Baylor at Texas Tech

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Published Mar 8, 2024

JD ANDRESS

JD is the voice of TCU On SI. He is the writer of the weekly “What Did We Learn” article on football, basketball, and baseball. He covers all things football, MBB, WBB, Baseball, Equestrian and Rifle. JD hosts many of TCU ON SI’s podcasts, including host of “The Bullpen” (baseball), co-host of “Splash Pad” (women’s basketball), co-host of “Gridiron Frogs” (football), and co-host of “Campus Tour” (multiple sports). Stay up to date by following him on X. Fight em’ till Hell Freezes over and then fight em’ on the ice.