After holding off Syracuse late in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils will now face North Carolina in the postseason for a third straight year. The Blue Zone gives you a player from each team to keep an eye on in Friday’s showdown:
Duke: Guard Tre Jones
One of the positives from the Blue Devils' February loss to North Carolina was Jones’ defense on Tar Heels’ point guard Coby White. The all-ACC defensive selection held his Tar Heel counterpart to just nine points on 3-for-14 shooting and six turnovers. Flash forward to the second meeting, and White got his revenge, scoring 21 points on four three’, as well as not committing a single turnover.
Duke will hope that the return of Zion Williamson will limit Luke Maye’s ability to score, meaning White will be even more inclined to look for his shot. It’s fair to say that Jones’ performance in Chapel Hill was an anomaly, as he’s consistently shut down some of the best guards in the country, but the Blue Devils can’t afford another poor defensive game if they want to finally take a game over North Carolina.
It will also be important for the Minnesota native to improve his shot selection, as he tied a career-high seven 3-pointers attempted in the quarterfinal win over Syracuse, making just one. Jones chipped in eight assists and converted all eight of his free throws on Thursday, but most importantly realized his role towards the end of the game. Duke cannot have their point guard forcing shots against the Tar Heels, and should, per usual, look to Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish for the majority of the shots.
North Carolina: Forward Garrison Brooks
Three minutes into last Saturday’s edition of the rivalry provided another injury scare for the Blue Devils, as Marques Bolden headed to the locker room with what seemed to be a serious knee injury. Although the junior center may not be out as long as anticipated, Bolden was ruled out of the ACC tournament, opening the door for another solid game from Garrison Brooks.
The lone inside only player in the Tar Heels’ rotation, Brooks posted 10 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes of action in the last North Carolina-Duke matchup, but left a lot of opportunities on the foul line, going just 4-for-10. With foul-prone Javin DeLaurier again expected to start off on the big man, Brooks will have to improve from the charity stripe for the Blue Devils to not aggressively attack the big man in the paint.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski may choose to implement his small ball lineup of the four freshmen and either Jack White or Alex O’Connell, which may take the Carolina forward out of the game. If Roy Williams decides to roll with his usual lineup, however, Brooks will need to take advantage of his size mismatch on the offense, as he will surely have difficulties guarding the Blue Devils’ spaced sets on the other end.
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