Streaking UNC finds its 'joy,' but still looking for signature win with No. 2 Duke next

By Brian Murphy, WRAL Sports

2Duke Blue Devils	82
North Carolina Tar Heels	69
Final

The North Carolina men’s basketball team, winners of six straight games, have found contentment, confidence and success on the court in recent weeks.

What the Tar Heels need most of all, now, is a resumé-boosting victory.

“There’s a new joy amongst this team,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “I feel like our guys are settled in regards to their role and what they could do out there on the floor. So that gives them confidence and that settledness and that confidence is resulting in individual and team success, and I think that’s bringing out the joy in them.”

Nothing would bring the Tar Heels and their fans more joy than knocking off rival and second-ranked Duke in Saturday’s regular-season finale in Chapel Hill. A win would go a long way toward securing an NCAA Tournament berth for UNC, which began the season ranked in the top 10 but has been on the bubble for weeks.

The biggest reason for the Tar Heels’ bubble status: A 1-10 record in Quad 1 games, a key metric used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee when picking the field. Quad 1 games are contests against the nation’s top teams.

Their six straight wins — the last five by double digits — have come against lower-tier ACC teams. None are sniffing the NCAA Tournament. Two of the wins came against teams that won’t even make the ACC Tournament.

UNC (20-11, 13-6 in the ACC) will get no greater opportunity to enhance its case than against the Blue Devils (27-3, 18-1), who are simply mauling opponents. Duke, which can secure the ACC regular-season title outright witn a win, has won its last seven games by an average of 31.5 points. Duke’s last three wins are by 33, 35 and 37 points as it makes its case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“They’re surging too!” Davis said.

A revamped starting lineup and the late-season surge of Ven-Allen Lubin and Jae’Lyn Withers have helped steady the Tar Heels.

Lubin, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Vanderbilt, has scored in double figures in five straight games and had his first double-double of the season against Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Withers, a 6-foot-9 junior, has been blistering from 3-point range: 13-of-23 in his last six games. He was 12-of-18 before the Virginia Tech game. Drake Powell’s return to the starting lineup has helped, too, making the smallish Tar Heels a bit bigger.

“Hubert and their staff have done a great job of adapting and continuing to evolve as a team,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “Obviously they’re playing bigger, lineup changes, but they’re ultimately playing the same guys. But I think the biggest thing that’s different is just the confidence level that they’re playing with, the aggressiveness, the cohesiveness.”

All of that will be tested Saturday.

The Blue Devils crushed UNC in their previous meeting, leading by as many as 27 points in a convincing 87-70 victory in Durham on Feb. 1. Despite injuries to Maliq Brown (who may miss Saturday’s game) and Tyrese Proctor, Duke keeps humming along.

Freshman Isaiah Evans, who scored three points in eight minutes in the first game against UNC, has seen his playing time and production increase. Evans has averaged 15.4 points per game over the last four.

“It’s easy to say they’re different,” Scheyer said. “I feel we’re different too. Isaiah is a great example.”

Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas, who was announced as Miami’s next coach, will be on the sidelines for the final time for the Blue Devils. Lucas starts with the Hurricanes on Monday before the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. Not ideal timing, but a necessity with Miami’s season ending Saturday and the transfer portal opening in less than three weeks.

“It’s a different time of year where our identity is established,” Scheyer said. “The key thing is we continue to be us and, ultimately, that’s my job and my responsibility. Our plays have done a great job taking any obstacle that’s coming their way and just continue to roll with this thing.”