The moment we have been waiting for all season is finally here: the North Carolina Tar Heels are just moments away from facing off against the Duke Blue Devils in the Dean Smith Center. This game has been on everyone’s
calendars outside of both fanbases for one obvious reason, which is a showdown between Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, two of the best players in college basketball, and two future first-round NBA Draft picks. For Carolina and Duke fans, this game has a lot riding on it when it comes to pride, ACC standings, and well, hatred. For college basketball fans, this is going to be one of the most entertaining games of the season.
When looking at keys to tonight’s game, we of course have to start with the Wilson vs. Boozer matchup. It’s unclear as to whether or not we will see these two butting heads directly all night, but we will inevitably see at least some of that. When it comes to Wilson, one has to wonder if he can deal with Boozer’s strength and ability to score on all three levels without fouling. For Boozer, the question is how much success will he have against someone on the other side of him that is arguably just as skilled, perimeter game withstanding. He also has to deal with Henri Veesaar guarding him as well, so this will be Boozer’s toughest test yet. But of course, the same is also true for UNC’s bigs.
Zooming out, back court play will also be key in this game, and this is where it’s hard to predict what is going to happen. Both teams’ guards have had some really good moments and moments where they essentially disappeared. Duke’s Isaiah Evans is the only guard that has scored in double figures in the last two games, but that was mostly because the other guys weren’t getting enough touches. Caleb Foster will need to be a factor if they want to come out on top, and Cayden Boozer may need to…well…take a shot. Any shot.
On UNC’s side, Luka Bogavac and Derek Dixon have stepped up considerably over the last few games, and Seth Trimble has smoothed some things out on both sides of the ball. At least two of these three guys will need to be productive, and I’m also looking at Jonathan Powell who will need to at least hit a couple of threes to keep the Heels in it. There’s also the elephant in the room: can the Heels’ back court actually play good defense against above average talent? We’ll find out soon enough, but if they were going to step up in any game, it would be this one.
If you weren’t able to sell your car in order to get a ticket for tonight’s game, feel free to hang out with us in the comments section! We will be back after the game with post-game analysis and perhaps some screaming if things go the wrong way. Until then, Go Heels, and Go to Hell Duke!
