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Duke Basketball: Tar Heels firing on all cylinders headed into rematch

By Kevin Connelly

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddles with his starting five during the first half of their game against the Florida State Seminoles at the Dean Smith Center on February 23, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels huddles with his starting five during the first half of their game against the Florida State Seminoles at the Dean Smith Center on February 23, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The North Carolina Tar Heels are firing on all cylinders headed into the rematch with the Duke Basketball team on Saturday night and that could spell trouble for a short-handed Blue Devils team.

Since an embarrassing home loss to the then unranked Louisville Cardinals, the North Carolina Tar Heels have been on fire, only losing one game since January 13.

That one game as at home against the then No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers.

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That’s it. Everyone in its path had been defeated, including the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium when Zion Williamson left in the first 30 seconds with a Grade 1 knee sprain that he is still recovering from.

Since the win over Duke, the Tar Heels soundly beat then No. 16 Florida State in the Dean Dome.

The Heels got a bit of a scare from Syracuse and on the road against Clemson before taking care of business on the road against Boston College behind a career night on the backboards from Luke Maye.

Maye exploded for 30 and 15 against the Blue Devils but he was able to pull down a career high 20 rebounds the win over the Eagles.

While the Tar Heels will be celebrating its seniors, Luke Maye and Cam Johnson, it has been freshman Coby White that has sparked this outstanding run by the Tar Heels.

White is averaging 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 43.7% from the floor and 37.8% from 3-point range.

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In his first Duke vs. North Carolina game, White looked surprised by the moment along side of the tenacious defense of Tre Jones.

White was three of fourteen from the field and one of six from 3-point range for only nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and he had six turnovers in 28 minutes of action.

However, it is Cam Johnson that is the leader of this North Carolina team. He had a quiet 26 points in the first matchup and on the season, he is averaging 16.9 points per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 47.9% from 3-point range.

North Carolina will looks for its first regular season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2008 on Saturday night in the Dean Dome at 6:00pm ET on ESPN.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels. 

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