Duke wasn't lacking for motivation heading into Saturday's home finale against North Carolina. The Blue Devils have revenge on their mind against the hated rival Tar Heels. North Carolina had an improbable comeback win over Duke, capped by a game-winning three by senior captain Seth Trimble to give Duke its only loss in ACC play this year, and just their second loss of the season.
And it was Trimble who decided to give the Blue Devils just a little bit of extra motivation heading into the matchup with his comments this week.
"Winning there is hard," Trimble said of Cameron Indoor. "It's a very historic venue, they have a great homecourt advantage. But, I mean, you look at history, if there's one team that can go in there and get a win, it's North Carolina."
History won't be enough to save Seth Trimble and North Carolina against Duke
Trimble isn't exactly wrong with what he said. Since 1965, no team has fared better against the Blue Devils in Durham than the Tar Heels. Duke is just 32-29 against North Carolina at home in the last 60 years.
But history will have little impact on what happens on Saturday night at Cameron.
Because this Duke team is on a mission, and more so than it being a rivalry game, North Carolina just so happens to be the next team standing in its path.
Duke let one get away from them in Chapel Hill in the first meeting last month. The Blue Devils led by 13 in the second half, but couldn't close. They left the door open just wide enough for Trimble to hit a game-winning three and the Heels to steal one.
That's not going to happen again.
Duke is rolling. Since the UNC loss, Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils have won seven straight games with an average margin of victory of 24.3 points per game. The only game that was within single digits was Duke's neutral court win over soon-to-be fellow No. 1 seed Michigan. The Blue Devils have blown everyone else out, and unfortunately for Hubert Davis, his Heels aren't the Wolverines this year.
Even with the outright ACC Championship clinched after Monday night's blowout in Raleigh, Duke will have plenty of motivation to earn its get-back against North Carolina. And that was true before Trimble opened his mouth.