9-Feb-2012 - Basketball Preview: Duke at North Carolina

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One of the most heated rivalries NHL jerseys supply in college basketball will take center stage Wednesday night when No. 10 Duke (19-4, 6-2 A.C.C.) travels just eight miles to visit No. 5 North Carolina (20-3, 7-1) in the first of two regular-season matchups.Duke, which lost its second consecutive conference home game Sunday, needs a marquee win to reinvigorate its players and re-establish itself as a favorite in the Atlantic Coast Conference. For North Carolina, a win over its rival would solidify its claim of belonging among college basketball's elite teams.Here are three keys to the game:Winning the Battle in the PostCoach Roy Williams had to be encouraged after watching Miami's Reggie Johnson dominate Duke's interior defenders last Sunday. North Carolina has a top-flight front line in senior Tyler Zeller and junior John Henson, who together average 29.6 points and 19.6 rebounds a game. Without a dynamic backcourt, Williams will rely on his big men. While Johnson, one of the biggest players in the A.C.C., humiliated the Blue Devils on their own floor, Duke's Plumlee brothers, Mason and Miles, should have a better chance of guarding the relatively svelte Zeller and Henson. Given the pedigree of the Tar Heels' big men, many will expect North Carolina to have the advantage in the paint, but the Blue Devils have shown they can be effective in limiting Zeller and Henson. In three games against Duke last season, Henson shot 15 for 40. Mason Plumlee has become one of the Blue Devils' primary offensive players as the season has progressed, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski will most likely look to get his star center into the flow of the offense early on in Chapel Hill.Can Duke Take Advantage of Its Depth at Guard? Neither Duke nor North Carolina can guard the 3-point line effectively, so both teams can expect to have their share of open looks from beyond the arc. After the season-ending injury to Dexter Strickland, North Carolina does not have the same backcourt depth as Duke, and Coach Williams will have to rely on Kendall Marshall — a spectacular passer but limited scorer — and Reggie Bullock to log the vast majority of minutes. Meanwhile, Coach Krzyzewski may have too many options at guard. The freshman Austin Rivers and the junior Seth Curry are the primary ball handlers and scorers for Duke, but Krzyzewski has the luxury of being able to call up a sharpshooter in Andre Dawkins, a crafty distributor in Quinn Cook and a defensive menace in Tyler Thornton, depending on the situation.Harrison Barnes could make the difference for North Carolina on the perimeter. Last season Duke could rely on the savvy senior Kyle buy NFL Jerseys Singler to shut down the North Carolina swingman Harrison Barnes. After losing Singler to graduation, however, Duke is left without a true small forward to match up with Barnes. The sophomore has taken over games at times, but Barnes, who was selected as the A.C.C. preseason player of the year — is nevertheless inconsistent. Barnes has the talent necessary to win any given game for the Tar Heels, but he has yet to discover his killer instinct. If he is able to exploit matchups with slower players like Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee, though, the Blue Devils could be in for a long night.How Will the Blue Devils Rebound From an Embarrassing Loss to Miami? Though conventional wisdom would suggest North Carolina is in better shape for Wednesday night’s game because the Tar Heels have won five straight, the Blue Devils will be looking to atone for a demoralizing loss at home to unranked Miami. Duke had numerous chances to escape the upset in overtime after erasing a 14-point deficit in the second half, but it settled kids nfl jerseys for poorly advised 3-pointers in overtime, and more important, was 0 for 6 from the free throw line in the extra period. Coach Krzyzewski called out his team's desire to win in the postgame news conference, so the young Blue Devils have something to prove. There is no better way to regain the trust of your coach than by beating a rival on the road.Nicholas Schwartz is the managing editor of The Chronicle, the independent student daily at Duke University.

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