BY JOE JOHNSON

jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 417-6667

DURHAM -- For the first time since 1997, Duke and North Carolina come into their annual slugfest on a down note. But that doesn't mean the Blue Devils and Tar Heels won't be ready for their showdown tonight at Cameron Indoor Stadium as both teams enter ranked in the top 25.

Both teams lost in their last outings as they made their longest conference road trips of the season. Duke (18-4, 6-1 ACC) went to Boston College and did a lot of things right but they did more things wrong according to Blue Devils coach Joanne P. McCallie, as her team lost 61-57. The Tar Heels (16-5, 4-3) come in on a two-game losing streak, as they've fallen to Florida State and Miami.

"I was very unhappy with our focus and intensity and defense against Boston College," McCallie said. "We messed around and didn't play with any urgency. We played that game with a casual nature. We can't do that against North Carolina. You can control how you defend and rebound and we have to do a better job on Monday night."

Duke didn't expect to get outrebounded by Boston College, but it did. And now the Blue Devils are facing a team that thrives on rebounding.

"You have a heightened awareness because of what happened the last time out," McCallie said. "We were outrebounded by Boston College, and now we're playing a team that rebounds so well."

The Tar Heels are 12th nationally in rebounding margin, averaging about 8.5 more rebounds per game than their opponents.

Defensively, the Tar Heels are blocking a lot of shots with the emergence of freshman post player Waltiea Rolle. UNC is seventh in blocks with about 6.1 per game.

Duke's Jasmine Thomas and Joy Cheek said they're expecting the Tar Heels to come out and play a hard, tough game that lives up to the intensity of the rivalry. But Thomas and Cheek said they have to treat the game like any other.

"When you hype it more than it is, that's when you mess up," Cheek said. "You have to play it the same way you play Clemson and Connecticut and Miami."

For Thomas and Cheek, who did not grow up with the rivalry infused into their being, it's a little easier to approach this rivalry game like any other game.

"It's the same challenge we have in every game," Thomas said.

Cheek agreed.

" We get it. But it's hard when you don't grow up with it," Cheek said. "You just want to go out there and try to beat them like any other game."

The recent history of the series has been one of streaks and dominance by one side. There have been few times when teams swapped victories since 2000. Duke won 12 in a row, followed by five straight wins by the Tar Heels. The Blue Devils came back with a pair of wins before falling to UNC in four straight. Duke won their last meeting on its home court. It was the first time since 2000 that the teams have split their regular-season games.

With both teams coming off a loss, historically the Tar Heels have been the team better able to answer back. UNC holds a 7-1 mark over the Blue Devils in such matchups.

Duke will try to avoid its first two-game losing streak in ACC play since the 1999-2000 season when it lost to Virginia and Maryland in consecutive contests. But playing at home may favor the Blue Devils, who have won their last 11 ACC games in friendly confines.

"We don't want to be the team with back-to-back losses," Cheek said.