The Duke Blue Devils' win over the Florida State Seminoles wasn't pretty, and it was far from perfect, but a win is a win. After Duke headed to the locker room to prepare for what's next, the Carolina Tar Heels took the court, trying to replicate their rival's outcome.
Well, UNC failed to do that and lost to the Clemson Tigers by only one point (in fact, it was the same score as the Duke game, just not in favor of the Heels).
Now that their fiercest rivals are out of the tournament, the Blue Devils have a significantly easier path to the ACC Championship game, only having to take down Clemson to get there.
Jon Scheyer and Duke should be grateful Carolina lost to Clemson
This isn't to say that the Blue Devils couldn't have defeated the Tar Heels, but having to beat the same team twice, much less a rival, is extremely hard to do, and Duke just beat North Carolina a few days ago.
Not to mention, when the Blue Devils faced Clemson in the regular season, it looked to be a much easier matchup for head coach Jon Scheyer and his team to handle than either of their games against UNC.
Yes, yes, Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II are both out with foot injuries, but the rest of the team stepped up when the Blue Devils needed them to last night.
Isaiah Evans had a career-high 32 points in Foster's absence. Cameron Boozer had yet another double-double performance. Even freshman Nikolas Khamenia came off the bench to contribute nine points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Duke is struggling with injuries but UNC is failing with them
While Duke is missing Foster and Ngongba, plus a slew of other injuries that people basically forgot about over the regular season, Carolina's biggest injury-related absence is clearly hurting the Heels more.
Caleb Wilson's absence, sidelined with a fractured hand and subsequent surgery, has hit the Tar Heels hard, and the lack of his presence in the lineup clearly hurt UNC's effort against Clemson last night.
While Scheyer put on a coaching masterclass against FSU, reshuffling his lineup to set up Duke for victory, Carolina head coach Hubert Davis failed to do the same. He couldn't adapt, and it led to UNC's loss and subsequent exit from the ACC Tournament.
In other words, if he doesn't figure out how to succeed without Wilson on the court, Carolina's loss to Clemson and short run in the ACC Tournament will only be a preview of the Tar Heels' run in the NCAA Tournament.