Duke basketball: UNC player dismisses question about Dariq Whitehead
Ahead of Round 2 of this season's UNC-Duke basketball rivalry at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday — this time in Chapel Hill with ESPN's College GameDay on the scene again — a few Tar Heel seniors spoke to the media on Thursday. Duke's pre-UNC-game press conference is at 12:15 p.m. ET Friday (ACC Network Extra).
Fifth-year guard Leaky Black, the Tar Heels' lockdown perimeter defender, appeared to sarcastically imply he was unaware and unbothered by the fact one particular dangerous Blue Devil freshman, sharpshooting wing Dariq Whitehead, would be on the court this go-round.
Whitehead, now averaging 8.2 points for the season after struggling to find his confidence for much of the year while dealing with several setbacks, sat out Duke's 63-57 win over UNC in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 4 with a lower leg injury.
When asked how much he has watched Whitehead and how much his presence has impacted the Blue Devils' recent success (winners of five straight), Black offered what some might call bulletin-board material (beginning at the 12:15 mark in the video below).
"Uh, Dariq? He's playing on Saturday?" Black asked the reporter. "OK."
That's all Black said. He displayed body language suggesting that the topic of Dariq Whitehead, who arrived in Durham at No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2022 Composite and whose 41.5 shooting percentage from downtown is the best among the regulars in Duke basketball's rotation, wasn't significant enough to discuss.
And so another reporter asked if he had anything to say about Whitehead or if they could move on to her question.
"We can move on," Black said with a sly grin.
At that point, responding to her question about the goals he has in mind for his final Duke matchup, Black came across as considerably hungry to end his regular-season career with a statement victory against the program's archrival.
"I want it to be a real nasty win," Black noted, emphasizing the "nasty" part.
The Tar Heels (19-11, 11-8 ACC), sitting No. 7 in the ACC standings, are playing for their NCAA Tournament lives, hoping not to become the AP's first preseason No. 1 to miss the Big Dance. And they're looking to prevent first-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer from improving to 2-0 against their second-year chief, Hubert Davis.
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But remember, Davis' veteran Tar Heels enter the bout on a three-game win streak. Furthermore, these are mostly the same UNC players who thrived with their backs against the wall and as underdogs late last season on their way to spoiling pretty much all of the festivities surrounding Duke basketball legend Mike Krzyzewski's retirement.
As for the Blue Devils (22-8, 13-6 ACC), Scheyer's young bunch is a lock to see its name on Selection Sunday and could earn a double-bye in next week's ACC Tournament with a win over UNC if one or two other Saturday outcomes work in its favor.
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