Somehow, Carolina won the losable game at Clemson. There were scoring droughts and drama, a football pass and a three-pointer that were straight out of yesteryear. And a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat against a team that was hungrier than Carolina was confident. All those who watched must have muttered, “What a game.” […]

Could you handle playing Duke three times for the third straight year? If the ACC tournament were this weekend, Carolina and Duke would in all likelihood be playing tonight in the semifinals – once again six days after their second meeting of the regular season. The tournament is still two weeks away, and things could change, […]

Coby White is not the best UNC freshman ever – at least not yet. After he scored 34 points against Syracuse and became the first Tar Heel freshman to go for 30-plus three times, some pundits and stat freaks are calling Coby White the best first-year player in UNC annals. Numbers aside, Coby isn’t quite […]

It was almost as if the Tar Heels knew that Duke lost. Those who could follow both the Duke-Virginia Tech and Syracuse-Carolina games saw the Blue Devils’ 77-72 loss to the Hokies end at almost the exact time the Tar Heels were tipping off against the Orange. Of course, it didn’t happen this way, but I could […]

Suddenly, Carolina can determine its own ACC — and NCAA — fate. When the basketball schedule came out, the unbalanced slate looked much to UNC’s advantage. Besides the four home-and-home series with Duke, State, Miami and Louisville, the Tar Heels had five single home games and five single road trips that appeared almost ideal. The […]

The home crowd was ready, even if the Tar Heels weren’t. The Smith Center atmosphere Saturday afternoon was appropriately wild, seeing as it was the first home game since Carolina routed top-ranked Duke in the highest-rated weeknight telecast in ESPN history — despite Zion’s famous injury 34 seconds in. Unlike a bandbox where tickets were going […]

When Zion’s shoe blew apart, college and pro basketball blew up. Three things happened after Duke’s lopsided loss to Carolina in Cameron Wednesday night, two of them captured on video. First came a blow-by handshake from Mike Krzyzewski to Roy Williams, coaches who always chat cordially before and after games. The second was Coach K’s press conference, […]

Finally, Duke-Carolina failed to live up to its legendary hype. This one might have been over before it started when the Blue Devils’ Superman slipped, blew apart his shoe and left the court with a sprained knee not to return. Zion turned Zeron with no full minutes, zero shots, free throws, rebounds, assists, blocked shots […]

Some Roy Williams numbers that may blow your mind: By almost any metric, tonight’s Carolina-Duke game features a clash between the two best active coaches in the history of college basketball. Not only are we lucky to have the greatest rivalry in the sport under our collective noses, we are again watching the two best […]

Two ways the Duke-Carolina rivalry has changed. When the Blue Devils and Tar Heels play, it is almost always a great game, tough and taut for most of 40 minutes. The common denominator making the greatest rivalry in college basketball is both programs have been national contenders for the last 60 years. The one obvious […]