| | CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- No. 3 Duke has heard all week about how
good it is and how bad a season North Carolina is having. The
streaking Blue Devils aren't buying either assessment.
"For this game, you've got to throw out the momentum. This is
not a numbers game, it's a passion and heart game," Duke's Shane
Battier said of Thursday night's matchup with the Tar Heels.
|  | | Shane Battier knows every game against North Carolina is a battle regardless of rankings. |
"We're not falling into any sort of trap," added coach Mike
Krzyzewski. "We're going to play an outstanding squad on their
home court. We respect them ultimately."
Duke (16-2, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won 16 straight
overall, a record 29 straight regular-season conference games and
will put its 58-game winning streak against unranked opponents on
the line at the Smith Center.
Meanwhile, North Carolina (13-8, 4-3) had lost four straight
prior to its recent two-game winning streak. The last time the Tar
Heels were unranked in one of college basketball's greatest
rivalries was 1990. North Carolina won both of those games, by 12 and 19
points.
"The pressure has been on us all year because we've lost a
couple of games," said North Carolina's Jason Capel, whose brother
Jeff played for the Blue Devils. "It seems like people are
forgetting about us, but that's good because we're going to come
back even stronger.
"If we win this game people will say it's a great upset,"
Capel added. "But our record doesn't speak as to how good this
team can be in this month and in March. We are a good team, we just
have to go out there and show it."
Duke and Krzyzewski are convinced. The coach says his team could
easily have lost a pair of overtime games, while the Tar Heels
could have won several close ones that went the other way. The Blue
Devils beat Virginia, second in the ACC, in overtime in
Charlottesville, Va., to open their ACC season. North Carolina lost
by two there.
"To me, they're one of the top teams in the country,"
Krzyzewski said. "All this stuff about them not being good, I
don't know where that's coming from."
The Blue Devils head into the game with three freshmen among its
top six players. The last time such a young Duke team played at the
Smith Center was Feb. 5, 1998, a game the Tar Heels won by 24
points. That was also Duke's last ACC regular-season loss.
"It was almost like a carnival," said Battier, recalling his
freshman experience. "The Dean Dome is a pretty big place and it
was packed and it was rocking.
"It was pretty intimidating, especially when you look down at
the other end during warmups and you see (Vince) Carter and
(Antwan) Jamison. I don't care who you are, that's going to scare
you a little bit."
Neither team has such stars this time, but Duke is difficult to
defend because six players average double figures.
When North Carolina's Kris Lang was asked what it would take to
beat the Blue Devils, he quickly shot back: "Everything. We'll
have to box out, play great defense and communicate."
Krzyzewski, criticized in the past by Duke fans for brushing off
losses to the Tar Heels, said he won't change his philosophy.
"This game gives us an opportunity to get better," Krzyzewski
said. "I want to beat North Carolina, but I want to get better.
We've got to wake up on Friday and play Virginia on Saturday.
That's the way I've always approached these games. My championship
is not beating Carolina." | |
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Game Day Preview: No.3 Duke at North Carolina
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