What’s on deck in Triangle sports this week? How about a little UNC-Duke action
A little birdie told us that there is a little basketball game later this week. A pair of teams in something called the Atlantic Coast Conference that apparently have been playing against each other for a very long time at a very high level, and that have fan bases that don’t care much for one another, are going to meet on the hardwood for the first of two regular-season meetings.
Anyone?
I mean, of course it’s UNC-Duke week. Or is that, Duke-UNC? Depends on which shade of blue is your favorite.
Either way, we’ve reached that part of the season. Neither Duke nor UNC have been as sharp as they would have hoped lately, though Duke is in a far better overall position, both in standings and with respect to its on-court personnel.
The Blue Devils will go as far as their star freshman, Paolo Banchero, will take them. That much was cemented this past week during a mundane (and closer-than-it-should-have-been) win over Clemson. Banchero was a force late against the Tigers, and after the game he showed some of that rare freshman leadership, describing a scene during a team timeout.
During the timeout, Banchero said, there was discussion of how Duke had lost 76-74 to Miami on Jan. 8 and 79-78 in overtime at Florida State on Jan. 18.
“We were like, ‘There’s no way we’re losing,’ “ Banchero said. “We know what’s happened the past two games against Miami and Florida State. That was definitely said, you know, we’re not losing. Make the right plays. Don’t make mistakes, you know, take care of the ball.”
They did, and they won.
On the other side, UNC has finally strung together some wins, but it hasn’t been the easiest of roads. And the Heels have relied heavily on their starters.
UNC’s starting five — Caleb Love, R.J. Davis, Leaky Black, Brady Manek and Armando Bacot — has played major minutes without much relief from the bench. They all played at least 34 minutes in Monday’s win over Virginia Tech. They all again played 34 or more minutes each against BC on Wednesday.
One thing UNC will have in its favor against Duke: The game is at home, where, through Friday night, the Tar Heels are unbeaten.
Buckle up, college hoops fans. The season starts for real this week.
Slow week
The Hurricanes are on break this week — after they play one last home game against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
The Canes, who have a tremendously backloaded schedule after seeing six games postponed due to COVID protocols in December, will take a six-day break from action after Sunday’s game. The break is part of what was supposed to be a league-wide Olympic/All-Star shutdown, but with the NHL’s withdrawal from the Olympics, the league scheduled several makeup dates during what was otherwise to be a three-week layoff.
The Canes will resume play on Monday, Feb. 7, but that will start with a four-game road swing in Toronto, Ottawa, Boston and Minnesota. The team’s next home game isn’t until Wednesday, Feb. 16.
