There is obviously no love lost between the Duke basketball team and the North Carolina Tar Heels and the regular season sweep by the Blue Devils is raising the stakes on Friday night.
The two teams will meet for a third time this season in the ACC Tournament Semifinals after both rallied in the second half for victories in the quarterfinals against Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, respectively.
For North Carolina, Friday evening in Charlotte will be its third game of the tournament while Duke will be playing its second although it will not have Maliq Brown available after he re-dislocated his shoulder on Thursday and unlikely to have Cooper Flagg following a nasty ankle sprain.
Still, the Tar Heels are itching for another opportunity to play Duke.
“We want that,” North Carolina blossoming forward Ven-Allen Lubin said. “We want that competition. We want our revenge.”
The Blue Devils won the first matchup of the season in the rivalry by 17 points in Durham and 13 points in Chapel Hill last week in the regular season finale last week.
“Just give us another opportunity to get a win against them, and just to play a really great team, just to give us a chance to play in the championship.”
Lubin has played well against Duke in his two games with the Tar Heels, posting seven points and six rebounds in the first meeting and 11 points and six rebounds inside the Dean Dome.
He has posted double-doubles in each of North Carolina’s postseason games with 17 points and ten rebounds against Notre Dame and ten points and 13 rebounds against the Demon Deacons.
North Carolina remains on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament and, again, a victory over Duke – despite its injuries – could put the Tar Heels in the dance even if they were to loss the ACC Tournament Championship.
Duke is nearly an eight-point favorite as tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET in Charlotte (ESPN).