No. 2 Duke battles rival North Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils (18-2, 10-0 ACC) and Tar Heels (13-9, 6-4 ACC) tip off at 6:30 p.m., with the game broadcast live on ESPN. Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Jess Sims will call the action on ESPN.
Saturday will be 263rd rendition of the famous rivalry, with North Carolina leading the overall series, 145-117. The Blue Devils lead the Tar Heels, 56-52, when playing in Durham, including a 47-40 ledger at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
About Carolina
- With Saturday’s game, the Tar Heels will have played half the teams in this week’s AP top 10.
- The last time unranked UNC defeated an opponent ranked as high as No.1 or No.2 was 12/3/2013, when the Tar Heels beat No. 1 Michigan State in East Lansing, 79-65.
- The Tar Heels are 3-4 on the road with wins at Hawai’i, Notre Dame and NC State. The Tar Heels have played four one-possession games on the road, including a 92-89 loss at Kansas, a 74-73 win at Notre Dame, a 63-61 win in Raleigh and 67-66 loss at Wake Forest.
- North Carolina is the second-highest scoring offense in the ACC and ranks 29th in the nation, averaging 82.5 points per contest.
- The Tar Heels rank 22nd in the country with 14.7 fastbreak points per game and 34th nationally with 17.0 free throws made per game, both numbers are second in the league.
- The Tar Heels have played nine one-possession games (decided by one, two or three points) this season. That equals the most played by the Tar Heels in a season in the three-point era, which began in 1986-87. The 2010-11 team played nine one-possession games and won eight.
- Elliot Cadeau’s 128 assists tops the ACC and ranks 15th in the nation, averaging 6.1 helpers per outing.
- RJ Davis is the sixth-leading scorer in the conference with a scoring average of 17.7 points per contest.
About Duke
- Duke has won 14 straight games, the longest active winning streak in the nation. The 14-game win streak is the longest by the Blue Devils since the 2014-15 season.
- The Blue Devils rank second in the nation in scoring margin (+20.5), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.372), fifth in scoring defense (59.6), ninth in rebound margin (+9.7), 17th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.62), 25th in three-pointers per game (10.1) and 32nd in assists per game (16.8) – all top marks in the ACC.
- The Blue Devils are 11-0 at home with an average win margin of 23.8 points in their four ACC home games.
- Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-six in both offensive (6th) and defensive efficiency (3rd), according to KenPom.
- Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (398), rebounds (159), assists (82), steals (29) and blocked shots (24). Flagg ranks among the ACC’s top-10 in four of the five major statistical categories – scoring (2nd), rebounding (6th), assists (7th) and blocks (8th), while ranking 13th for steals.
- In the last seven games, Sion James has distributed 31 assists with just eight turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.9.
- Kon Knueppel made three three-pointers in the first half against NC State. The Blue Devils are 10-0 when Knueppel makes at least three shots from deep in a game.
Duke vs UNC
- Saturday will be 263rd rendition of the famous rivalry, with North Carolina leading the overall series, 145-117. The Blue Devils lead the Tar Heels, 56-52, when playing in Durham, including a 47-40 ledger at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- On March 9, 2024, the last time the teams played, the Tar Heels led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held the lead for 39:43 in an 84-79 win in Cameron.
- The last time UNC beat Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 or 2 was 2/20/2019, when the eighth-ranked Tar Heels knocked off No. 1 Duke, 88-72, in Cameron behind Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson.
The Series
Overall: UNC leads, 145-117
In Durham: N.C. Duke leads, 56-52
At Cameron Indoor Stadium: Duke leads, 47-40
In Chapel Hill: N.C. UNC leads, 65-39
At Smith Center: UNC leads, 21-18
Neutral Sites: UNC leads, 28-22
UNC Isn’t Just in Trouble, They’re in Crisis Mode