Duke plays North Carolina in the second game of the semi-finals.
- Date: Saturday, April 2, 2022
- Matchup: No. 8 vs. No. 2
- Venue: Caesars Superdome
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- TV-Time: TBS – 8:49 p.m. ET
The Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels take their storied rivalry to a new level as they meet in the NCAA Tournament for the first time when they square off in the Final Four on Saturday. The ACC adversaries split their two meetings during the regular season, with each winning on the road, but the Tar Heels own a 141-115 advantage in the all-time series.
This is number 257 mutual meeting of this two most probably the fierce rivals in NCAAB history.
The Blue Devils would love nothing better than to win coach Mike Krzyzewski his sixth national championship in his final season. Duke also would like to avenge the 94-81 loss to North Carolina in Krzyzewski’s final home game on March 5. Freshman forward Paolo Banchero leads the Blue Devils in scoring with an average of 17.1 points and has produced 18.5 per game during the Tournament.
North Carolina has performed much better than a No. 8 seed in the “Big Dance” as it convincingly defeated three of its opponents and took out top-seeded Baylor in overtime in the second round. Armando Bacot is coming off a monster performance against Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight as he scored a game-best 20 points and matched his season high with 22 rebounds. The junior forward leads the Tar Heels with averages of 16.5 points and 12.8 boards.
- Duke has won 18 of its last 19 games when facing a non-AP-ranked school on a neutral court.
- The last six meetings have produced 154 total points or more.
- UNC has scored 73 points or less in six straight games when playing on a neutral court at night.
- UNC has lost 1H in 14 of its last 16 games when facing an AP-ranked school.
This will be a tight game in which the last seconds will decide. Duke fans cheer for another game for Coach K , while Duke haters will cheer for North Carolina. Anyways, we will enjoy another great game as only March Madness will bring .
Prediction: North Carolina +4