Revenge.

At long last, the Heels visit the Outhouse.....I mean Cameron Indoor for the long awaited rematch.  Carolina is playing some of their better basketball, and I think they're peaking at the right time to get the victory.  Like it or not (and I don't), Duke is very good.  They do, however, have their weaknesses.  North Carolina has a few things to make sure they can stun Durham again on senior night like they did two years ago.

First, the perimeter defense has gotten a lot better.  Shots are getting contested a lot more and it shows.  With the exception of the Tyrese Rice explosion at Boston College, I've noticed a considerable difference in how many three-point shots are getting met with defensive effort.  Carolina has to make sure they don't get killed on dribble penetration.  With that being said, Greg Paulus couldn't get past Ty Lawson with a bad ankle, so this should be a huge improvement over the soft fight Quentin Thomas put up against Paulus in the first meeting.  What this also means is that Wayne Ellington or Marcus Ginyard will have to put Demarcus Nelson in check.  Nelson is the only real big "to the hoop" threat that Duke has.  If you follow Carolina basketball like I do, I think you know that Wayne Ellington doesn't play lock down defense, so it looks like it will ne up to Ginyard and Danny Green to play the role of Jackie Manuel.

Second, Duke doesn't have anyone to match up with Tyler Hansbrough physically.  The Heels need to feed him the ball on every possession.  Both Kyle Singler and Greg Zoubek are way too soft to contain him.  If we can get Singler into foul trouble early on (which doesn't really happen that much at Cameron) that could potentially eliminate another deadly three-point shooter.  I look for Hansbrough to have a huge night, personally.

Third, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington need to shoot well.  This is a given, but even if Carolina plays excellent defense, you have to count on Duke hitting some shots.  If Ellington and Green go cold, then it means all Tyler, all the time.  Duke would be able to afford to double and triple team Hansbrough.  Ellington or Green (or both) need to hit some jump shots to keep the pressure off the inside game.

FInally, Carolina is road tested.  The ACC road schedule as well as non-conference road schedule has put the Heels into many tough places to play this year.  The "Cameron Crazies" won't bother them at all.  As a matter of fact, I think this team plays better and seems to have less pressure on them on the road rather than at home.

PREDICTION-North Carolina will execute the game plan, but Duke will hang tough.  North Carolina avenges the Chapel Hill defeat and beats Duke 85-77.