North Carolina gets hot from 3-point range
North Carolina has not been a good 3-point shooting team this season, making just 32.1-percent of its attempts, but the Heels got scorching hot from distance last year against Duke.
In Chapel Hill it was Harrison Ingram and in Durham it was Cormac Ryan.
Can anyone replicate those performances this season?
Duke has one of the best defenses in the country but has allowed role players to have big games recently, most notably NC State freshman guard Trey Parker and Notre Dame’s Sir Mohammed.
North Carolina could be hoping for a big day from 3-point range from its studs RJ Davis and Ian Jackson or could it be a role player like Seth Trimble or Drake Powell that steps up inside Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Tar Heels.
Regardless, it feels like Hubert Davis will need to see his team hit a handful of outside shots to keep pace with the Blue Devils.
Duke big men struggle with foul trouble, injuries
It is no secret that North Carolina’s big men have struggled this season. It was a major whiff in the offseason for Hubert Davis and opponents have exploited its weakness nearly every game.
However, the Blue Devils could be struggling inside as well as Maliq Brown is questionable to play after missing the last four games with a knee sprain and freshman Khaman Maluach has been tasked with much more in his absence.
Maluach has not had any effects of his illness he suffered late in Duke’s win over NC State, but he did pick up four fouls in wins over Wake Forest and Boston College while playing less than 20 minutes in both games.
If Brown is unable to play or is still clearly impacted by his knee injury and Maluach finds himself in early foul trouble, it could play into North Carolina’s hands by using more lineups with their guards and not being reliant on its forwards.
Still, there is this guy Cooper Flagg that the Blue Devils have that could be a matchup problem for North Carolina.
Tipoff is 6:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) from inside Cameron.