‘I want to see them again’: UNC turns gaze to ACC Tournament, potential Duke rematch
North Carolina’s Ven-Allen Lubin had spent several minutes Saturday fielding questions, dissecting the Tar Heels’ 82-69 loss to rival Duke, talking about the ACC tournament, when a final question was asked.
Would the Heels like to face the Blue Devils again, one more time, in the ACC Tournament next week?
“Absolutely,” Lubin said. “I want to see them again.”
Lubin said that with little emotion, said it matter-of-factly. As good as the Blue Devils are, and they’ve proven it twice against UNC this season, the Tar Heels would like another shot.
It could happen. Seeded fifth in the ACC Tournament, the Tar Heels (20-12 overall, 13-7 ACC) would have to beat either Pitt or Notre Dame on Wednesday in their opener at the Spectrum Center, then get past Wake Forest on Thursday..
Duke, the ACC regular-season winner, has a double-bye in the tournament and should be waiting Friday in the semifinals. But to reach the NCAA Tournament, the Heels — No. 38 in the NET rankings Saturday and now 1-11 against Quad-1 opponents — likely would need to get into the game against Duke, find a way to win it, and then claim the ACC championship.
“We can make some noise in the ACC tournament,” UNC guard R.J. Davis said. “That’s the right approach, the right mindset, to have. This team is fully capable of making it to the NCAA tournament and going far in it. That’s my full belief.”
The Blue Devils, a skilled and salty team, humiliated the Heels in the first game this season in Durham, winning by 17 points after leading by as many as 32. But Lubin said there was a difference in Saturday’s game at the Smith Center.
“Our toughness on both ends of the floor,” he said. “We were pressuring their players to create turnovers to get on runs, and stops on the defensive end.”
The Tar Heels, energetic on Senior Night, fueled by their fans, were active on defense and did cause 14 turnovers that they converted into 16 points.
“Whoever had the ball, I thought we were in their space and making it tough for them,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said.
But Davis said the Devils’ physicality finally wore down the Heels in the second half. The Duke defense was relentless, forcing the Heels to miss 22 of their last 27 shots after UNC had surged into a seven-point lead on a layup by Lubin.
“They’re long, they’re athletic and I think that really bothered us,” Davis said. “And not just one or two positions. At all five.”
There were some what-ifs for the Heels. One of the biggest: what if R.J. Davis didn’t have to leave the game with cramps in the second half after UNC had surged into the lead? When Davis returned three minutes later, Duke had the score tied and the Heels would not lead again as Davis was held scoreless the final 17:43 of the game.
“I wanted to give R.J. a break. He was giving a lot of effort out there,” Hubert Davis said. “During that stretch, I felt that offensively we just couldn’t get to the basket and I thought we took some quick jump shots. Long shots led to long rebounds and (Duke) was able to get out in transition.”
R.J. Davis said he was fine when he returned to the game and would not use any “excuses” about the disappointing loss in his final home game. He scored a game-high 20 points, he did what he could, but he could not pull his team to a victory over the Heels ‘ biggest rival, in his last game at the Smith Center.
“It hurts,” he said.
And the ACC tournament?
“The good thing is we still have more basketball to play,” he said. “Obviously it (hurts) right now. You’ve got to deal with it and deal with the emotions.
“You’ve got to learn to flip the page and be ready for Wednesday, because we’ve got four games to play in four days.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "‘I want to see them again’: UNC turns gaze to ACC Tournament, potential Duke rematch."
