Duke basketball starters against archrival Tar Heels
Freshman forward Dariq Whitehead will miss his third straight game with a left lower leg injury. Even if the six-time starter was available to play when the Duke basketball team hosts the rival UNC Tar Heels (15-7, 7-4 ACC) at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN), chances are he would have received limited minutes off the bench.
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With that in mind, it should be no shock that the Blue Devils (16-6, 7-4 ACC) will roll out the same starters for the season's first matchup against the Tar Heels that they used in their recent wins over Georgia Tech and Wake Forest:
- Junior guard Jeremy Roach
- Freshman guard Tyrese Proctor
- Freshman forward Mark Mitchell
- Freshman forward Kyle Filipowski
- Freshman center Dereck Lively II
When the above five have drawn starts, the Blue Devils are 9-1, including five straight wins. The only loss with this starting five came against the now-No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers on Nov. 27.
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But Roach is the only Blue Devil, whether a starter or reserve, who saw any action in the losses to UNC in the regular-season finale and Final Four last season.
Following the bout against UNC, the Duke basketball players have only one day off before their road game against the No. 23 Miami Hurricanes at 7 p.m. ET Monday (ESPN). Duke defeated Miami in Durham, 68-66, on Jan. 21.
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