2 Keys for UNC to Complete the Regular-Season Sweep of Duke

North Carolina will go head-to-head tonight with arch-rival Duke. The Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils back at the beginning of February, thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Seth Trimble.

The Tar Heels received unfortunate news yesterday when they learned star Caleb Wilson will undergo season-ending surgery after breaking his thumb on Thursday in a non-contact drill in practice. Wilson was working hard to come back from his wrist injury and play against the Blue Devils in the season finale.

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Instead, UNC will continue to be without its star, but this time, there will be no return this season for Wilson. Good news for the Tar Heels. They already secured a double bye in the ACC Tournament, which is even more important now with the loss of Wilson.

Although UNC will be short-handed, and there are no real repercussions if they lose tonight, they are still playing the Blue Devils. No matter how the season is going, UNC does not want to lose to the Blue Devils.

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Here are two winning strategies UNC can use to knock off Duke.

Start Fast, Slow Down Boozer

It is not ideal to be playing without Wilson, but UNC has been without him for the last six games, and they won five out of those six. So it will be tough, but the Tar Heels can win this game.

UNC has to start fast. The Blue Devils will be at home in a rivalry game. They will naturally be fired up and have the fans backing them. The Tar Heels have to come out of the gate swinging and drown out the noise.

For that to work, UNC has to neutralize Cameron Boozer early. He scored 24 points in the last matchup between these two teams, and that was OK because Wilson scored 23. This time around, the Tar Heels do not have that luxury.

Henri Veesaar, Jarin Stevenson, and Zayden High all must be physical to slow down Boozer. He wants to get in the paint and use his size and strength, but the UNC big men must do their best to prevent that from happening.

Bench Continues To Step Up

The Tar Heels are outmatched going into this game, so it will take a team effort to sweep the Blue Devils. Therefore, the bench for UNC must continue to step up. The bench has been terrific in the absence of Wilson, and a huge reason why they went 5-1 without him.

Luka Bogavac is coming off a career performance against Clemson, where he scored 20 points and hit six threes. It will take a group effort from Bogavac, High, and Jonathan Powell to secure the win. All three have stepped up on different occasions as of late.