Duke basketball: Predicting every win and loss this season
By Matt Giles
Game 23: Duke basketball at UNC
The Duke Blue Devils will play at the UNC Tar Heels, who rank No. 19 to start the year, on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN) in the Dean E. Smith Center.
In some ways, a win at UNC during Mike Krzyzewski’s last hurrah would be even sweeter than the Round 2 of college basketball’s greatest rivalry, which takes place in Durham one month later. After all, the trove of Duke basketball highlights from the Coach K era isn’t complete without the most unforgettable Blue Devil performances to stun all those Tar Heel faces in Chapel Hill.
Robert Brickey. Chris Duhon. Austin Rivers. Tre Jones. Wendell Moore.
Who will be the hero this year? Well, you can’t spell “Paolo Banchero” with the word “hero”; in fact, those four letters appear in order at the end of his surname. So for that reason only, the prediction here is quite simple: the Blue Devils will relish in the projected top NBA lottery pick’s sorcery across the game’s waning minutes while making Dean Dome patrons wail once again.
Predicted final score: Duke 81, UNC 79
The Blue Devils improve to 19-4 overall (9-3 ACC) on the season.