Duke head coach Jon Scheyer knows as well as anyone that no matter what the standings say right now, Saturday’s matchup against North Carolina is much bigger. Sure, Duke being in first in the ACC and 10-0 is a great thing, but this is North Carolina vs. Duke we’re talking about. Every Duke fan in the world would deal with losing any other regular-season game, as long as it results in Duke beating UNC.
Speaking about the game on Saturday, Scheyer said that no matter what the ranking or anything else says, they all go out the window and it’s a new game.
“You understand in this game, rankings go out the window,” Scheyer said, per the Tar Heel Tribune. “Records go out the window. Whether you’re playing home or away doesn’t matter.”
Even with Duke sitting at the top of the ACC standings at 10-0, Scheyer wants his team to know that all those other games don’t mean a thing right now. Instead, he said the rivalry is its own difficulty, and each game brings its own challenge, especially against UNC.
“You really learn to appreciate each game, and it’s isolated,” said Scheyer. “Each game is precious, and it’s difficult to win.”
For Duke’s younger players, Saturday is more than just another conference game, as it’s their first game in the biggest rivalry in college basketball history. However, it’s important to remember that there are more games in the future to be played and not to put too much pressure in just one contest.
“You can play more games going forward where people care and there’s spotlight and there’s noise and there’s attention,” he said.
“But there’s a sacrifice that needs to be made in attention to detail with the preparation,” he added.
We’ll see how the game goes, but I have a feeling Duke comes away with an easy win. I had to say that any North Carolina vs. Duke game will be “easy” but Duke is a much better team. If Duke can score how it does, force turnovers, and win on the glass, which I expect it to do, this should be a game it wins.