Across the Triangle, College basketball fans are bracing for this weekend’s men’s basketball matchup between the Duke Blue Devils and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Tar Heels.
While the players have certainly been busy this week, so are the student journalists who will write about the game. Duke’s Chronicle and UNC’s Daily Tar Heel have spent the week engaged in their own rivalry showdown, each trying to out-fundraise the other. They released a rivalry paper, featuring work from both publications, and they even have their own annual basketball game between staffers.
Ahead of this weekend’s matchup, we called up the sports editors at each publication to see how the teams are doing, what to look for in the big game, and what lines you can drop at watch parties to sound knowledgeable even if you haven’t been paying attention this season.
INDY: Thanks for joining. First, set the scene for anyone who hasn’t been paying attention. What has the men’s basketball season held so far for each team?
Caroline Wills, Sports Editor at the Daily Tar Heel: Well, this season definitely did not meet expectations. UNC has, unfortunately, kind of sputtered out since the beginning. They’ve had a really tough schedule, especially in the non-conference games, but also in the ACC. They’ve been stunted by scoring droughts. They’ve played bad defense. They let Boston College, a team that they were expected to beat pretty handily, hang around until overtime. I would say it’s been pretty bleak for the Tar Heels.
They’re not completely doomed. They’re not going to miss the tournament quite yet, but they’re definitely on the bubble, and this last stretch of the season could very well determine what kind of happens next for them.
Ranjan Jindal, Sports Editor at the Duke Chronicle: Yeah, it’s a little bit of a different story for Duke. To start off the season there were a lot of tough non-conference games. The schedule was really difficult, Duke lost two close ones against Kentucky and Kansas in last-minute finishes.
But then I think the turning point for the season came in the Auburn game. Auburn came to Cameron Indoor and Duke was able to win 84 to 78, and that was the second game in what is now a 14-game win streak. Duke has flown through the ACC still undefeated in league play and has really made its biggest differential on the defensive end.
Duke is one of, if not the best, defensive teams in the country. Every player in the rotation is 6’5” or above. So that really creates trouble for teams on the offensive end.
Playerwise, Cooper Flagg has been as advertised, if not more.
INDY: Give me one word to describe your current team.
Wills [DTH]: Undersized.
Jindal [Chron]: Dominant.
Duke, number 2 in the country, is obviously the favorite going in. What does UNC need to do to take them down?
Wills [DTH]: UNC has a lot of weapons. They have the capability to play good teams. They’ve shown that throughout all of their tough games. They just don’t have enough weapons that are clicking all at the same time. Seth Trimble has a good game, or Ian Jackson has a good game, or RJ Davis has a good game. It’s never all three of them. They’re not all clicking, finding the basket, getting open shots, all of that, and part of that can be attributed to their lack of inside presence. They just do not have a big man to space the floor to get outside shooters some open looks.
So because of that, their margin of error is super, super small. They’re going to have to be shooting lights out. And most importantly, as recent trends have suggested, a first-year guard like Ian Jackson needs to have a 20-plus-point game. If not, there’s no real offensive momentum.
It could be asking for too much to play basically a perfect game on Saturday, especially in a rivalry game, but I fear that that’s what it’s going to take.
What’s Duke’s biggest weakness?
Jindal [Chron]: There are a couple. One on the offensive end, Duke sometimes goes into lulls offensively. It happened against NC State and Wake Forest where they’re getting open shots, but they’re just not connecting from deep.
Duke has the length and size advantage, but UNC has a quickness advantage, so if UNC can really speed up Duke offensively and force some turnovers—Duke had a high amount of turnovers against Wake Forest—that can really change the flow of the game.
And if UNC can take advantage of Duke’s nerves—this is a high-pressure moment in Cameron Indoor Stadium, UNC is really playing with nothing to lose. All the expectations are on the Blue Devils, so that could play into UNC’s favor.
Imagine you’ve got a friend who’s been studying all year. They’re in the library a lot and not watching a lot of basketball, but they’re going to a watch party this weekend and don’t want to sound totally ignorant. What’s one phrase you’d give them to sound at least somewhat basketball-literate?
Wills [DTH]: “Get Ian Jackson to the rim.” That man, once he starts running, he’s unstoppable at times.
Jindal [Chron]: Talk about “Duke’s defensive dominance.” “They play connected on defense.” Or just complain about the refs.
What’s one article or storyline you’re proud of your staff for reporting this year?
Wills [DTH]: It can be difficult just as journalists to cover a team that is going through really tough stretches of losses but I think for the most part we’ve done it in an interesting way. My assistant editor, Emma Moon, just covered the Boston College game, and Hubert Davis came in the press conference room and was telling them all about this locker room speech he delivered.
And so her whole story, even though UNC won in overtime and that’s exciting, was about the sobering fact that there are real issues here, Hubert Davis is aware of them, and what’s there to do now?
Jindal [Chron]: In this rivalry edition, we have a story that one of our writers, Sophie Levison, wrote, about Sion James’s charity efforts and using NIL to fund charity. And we have a story about the history of the Cameron Crazies. It’s got some never-seen-before stories about what actually led to some of the traditions that Duke has. There’s a Coach K interview in there as well. And then outside of that, last December we were able to break some news about an update on the Duke lacrosse case that blew up and went national and we were the first to report on that.
What’s happening on campus this week? What are the vibes?
Wills [DTH]: Based on the temperature on Twitter that I’m seeing, people are not exactly excited.
I think there’s a little bit of a sense of fear. But at the same time, my assistant editor and I are going to Cameron for the first time ever. I’ve never covered a men’s basketball game in Cameron. I’m super excited about that. And I’m ready to take in the sights, the emotions, just no matter the outcome, no matter what I’m writing.
Jindal [Chron]: At Duke, this year was one of, if not the highest, interest, tenting years. Students tent for weeks to get tickets to the Duke-UNC basketball game.
Tell me about the celebration traditions on campus.
Wills [DTH]: Every time we beat Duke, students, adults, alumni, whatever, all rush Franklin Street. If it’s a home game, that means literally running 45 minutes from the Dean Smith Center to Franklin Street—taking a few occasional walk breaks here and there, because there are a lot of hills.
For away games, people gather wherever they can. Some of them selectively choose locations that are closer to Franklin Street so they can get there quickly. The DTH tries to publish at least one victory paper if UNC beats Duke.
Jindal [Chron]: Our biggest tradition is bench burning. If Duke wins, everyone rushes to one of the quads on main campus, and there’s a student group called the A-team that organizes a bench burning. They’ll probably burn a bunch of copies of the rivalry edition, it’s a big bonfire—controlled, of course.
I have a string of friends who are into sports betting, always waiting for those parlays to hit and everything. Have you guys seen an impact on campus?
Wills [DTH]: I’ve heard both sides of the conversation. Especially among men on campus, there’s a lot of participation. The one thing that is a little alarming to me is that if they place a few and then they don’t for a while, they start getting pop-up messages and emails to reel them back in with a deal or “free money” to bet. That, to me, is a little alarming, because these are college students. They’re impressionable. They haven’t exactly reached full adulthood yet. And if you’re constantly bringing them back into this loop, that’s unfortunately how scary things, like addiction, start.
From the player standpoint, I will never forget Armando Bacot speaking last year about how harassment has increased. He told a story of his DoorDash driver saying “Hey, because of you, my parlay didn’t hit.”
That’s alarming because, yes, the athletes are becoming more and more professional as the years go by, but at the end of the day, some are 18 to 21 years old. These are still kids who haven’t reached full adulthood yet. They’re playing a game and receiving death threats, receiving DMs about that. That’s a crazy amount of pressure to put on anyone, especially someone at this age.
Do either of you have any money on the line for Saturday?
Wills [DTH]: I do not. I’ve actually never placed a sports bet in my life, but many of my friends do and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have for Saturday.
Jindal [Chron]: Everyone says I should, but I have not, and I’ve never done it, but a lot of my friends do. And I’m just scared that I’ll do it once and then keep going and never want to stop.
Last but not least, I understand this basketball game is only the culmination of a big week for both of your publications with the rivalry challenge?
Wills [DTH]: We kicked off our fundraiser last Friday. The DTH and the Chron battle head to head to see who can outraise the other. But at the end of the day, it’s also promoting student journalism. We play a pickup basketball game, we collaborate on the rivalry Special Edition, which will be out on Friday on UNC’s campus. That is an all-sports paper, it’s half DTH and half Chron, and it has a ton of reporting about this game but also about the history of the Smith Center, junior guard Seth Trimble, and more.
My goal every time we do the rivalry edition is to create something that people want to hang on their walls and look at forever and think “Oh, I remember this game. I remember what happened here. I remember where I was.”
Jindal [Chron]:. This is a big fundraising campaign that gives both the Chronicle and Daily Tar Heel a lot of money to support student and local journalism and to allow us to continue to provide this free coverage of our school sports teams and our cities of Durham and Chapel Hill. Last year we raised upwards of $120,000 together.
This is just a fantastic week for both of us, and it’s busy, but it’s really rewarding to see the community response and the work we’re doing—because the rivalry is so much more than a game.
Find the rivalry challenge on the Daily Tar Heel and Chronicle websites.
Reach Reporter Chase Pellegrini de Paur at chase@indyweek.com. Comment on this story at backtalk@indyweek.com.