Matchup of freshman stars adds extra spice to Duke-North Carolina showdown
There are rivalries, then there’s Duke–North Carolina. It just hits differently anytime the Tar Heels and Blue Devils face off against one another.
Some of that is a direct result of the fullcourt press of hype ESPN rolls out in the days leading up to the two regular-season matchups between the bluest of college basketball bluebloods. But it also helps that no matter where the teams play or where they’re ranked, the games almost always live up to or exceed their massive buildup.
As epic as the battles have been over the years, including several in which the teams were ranked Nos. 1-2 in the nation, Saturday’s renewal at the Dean Dome has the potential to be among the best in recent memory because of a highly anticipated individual matchup. That’s because there’s an actual clash of titans baked into the context of this latest clash of titans.
Duke’s Cameron Boozer and UNC’s Caleb Wilson aren’t just two of the best freshmen in the nation this season, they’re two of the best, most dominant players, period. Boozer ranks second nationally in scoring at 23.3 points per game while leading his team in rebounds (9.9), assists (4.0) and steals (1.9). Wilson isn’t far behind at 20.0 points per game, to go along with team-best averages of 9.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks.
The fact that they play the same position only adds spice to their showdown. They won’t just be on the same court together, they’ll be face-to-face, going man a mano, on virtually every possession. But while their battle will be the center of attention for most of those watching from the stands and at home on TV, the combatants themselves remain, at least publicly, on a much bigger picture.
“We know how big of a deal this rivalry is,” Boozer said on Tuesday, following Duke’s lopsided win against Boston College. “It’s going to be a great environment. We’re excited.”
Although this will be the first experience as players in the Battle of the Blues for Boozer and Wilson, the two future NBA lottery picks are already well-schooled about both the rivalry and each other.
Boozer’s father Carlos was an All-American at Duke who helped the Blue Devils win a national championship in 2001, while Wilson’s decision to play for UNC was cemented during a recruiting visit to Chapel Hill in 2024 during which he experienced the full measure of passion before, during and after the Tar Heels’ 93-84 victory. On the court, their familiarity comes from the summer they spent together as teammates on a Nightrydas Elite squad that won the prestigious Peach Jam title.
“We were definitely close,” Wilson said in a pregame media session on Thursday. “We won a national championship, so it was definitely a lot of fun. Winning brings everybody together.”
Because they currently wear different shades of blue, their friendship has been put on hold for at least the next few days. The respect they have for one another, however, remains strong.
“He’s a great player, honestly, and he just plays smart, a really cerebral guy,” Wilson said of Boozer. “He’s not going to be rushed or anything like that. He just plays basketball in a very mature way. He’s a great offensive rebounder, he has the ability to score a lot of different ways and is a great passer.”
It’s a complete package similar to his own skill set.
“He’s a really terrific talent, obviously an explosive athlete, dynamic,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of Wilson. “He can do a lot of different things on offense and defense. His competitiveness is high level and his ability to impact winning in a bunch of different ways has been really impressive.”
It goes without saying that the winner of the individual matchup between Wilson and Boozer will go a long way toward deciding the outcome of the game and cementing at least one of their places in the storied history of college basketball’s most intense rivalry.
“I want to be a legend, and I want to submit my name in history, this is a very good opportunity to do it,” Wilson said. “And it’s a very good time for our school and our team to just have some pride and dignity and get a win.”
Wade’s Wolfpack are road warriors
Former NC State coach Kevin Keatts had a tradition of treating his players to ice cream before leaving town following a road win. If Keatts’ successor Will Wade followed the same practice, his current Pack of Wolves might already have amassed enough loyalty points to earn their own Baskin Robbins franchise.
Tuesday’s come-from-behind victory at SMU improved State to 6-0 on the road in the ACC. The Wolfpack is one of only three teams, along with Duke and Clemson, with an unblemished conference road record at the halfway point in the league schedule. And it hasn’t just been fattening up on bottom feeders. In addition to its victory in Dallas, State notched another Quad 1 win at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum, where the Tigers are 13-2 against the ACC over the past two seasons.
It’s a success Wade chalks up to a resilience that was on full display while rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit, then sealing the deal with a defensive stop on the final possession to win at SMU.
“I’ve had teams that are really good on the road. I’ve had teams that have just been mediocre on the road, but I think the biggest thing is you’ve just got to be together,” Wade said. “You’ve got to have a next-play mentality on the road where you can stop and reset. At home, it’s a lot easier.
“You’ve got to come down, run solid offense and not try to match them shot for shot. On the road, with the crowd going crazy, sometimes it can get away from you. So I think just having that next-play mentality and when things get tougher, you’ve got to get tighter together. That’s been helpful for us on the road, but we’ve got some big challenges left on the road.”
The Wolfpack’s next trip is to Louisville on Monday. First, though, it will have to try and maintain its focus against Virginia Tech at home, something it hasn’t always been able to do. Both of State’s ACC losses have come at Lenovo Center, including an uninspired setback to bottom feeder Georgia Tech on Jan. 17, six games ago.
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… So are Brad Brownell’s Clemson Tigers
Clemson’s Thursday night victory at Stanford didn’t just buck the trend that usually befalls ACC teams when they travel to the conference’s western outposts. It extended a streak even more impressive than NC State’s.
Dating back to last season, Brad Brownell’s Tigers have now won 13 straight conference road games. That’s the fourth-longest streak in conference history, tied with NC State (1972-74), and the longest by an ACC team since Duke won 24 straight away from Cameron Indoor Stadium between 1998-2001.
“It’s hard to do,” Brownell said of the streak after win No. 12 at Georgia Tech on Jan. 24. “It’s a product of having a lot of really good players and having a staff that does a good job in our prep and our guys embracing these kinds of games away from home.”
This latest road win didn’t come easily. It took a second half comeback and a pair of Nick Davidson free throws with 23 seconds remaining to secure the two-point victory. Extending the streak at Cal on Saturday will be just as much of a challenge. Of the five other conference teams that have made the cross-country trek this season, only Duke has managed to make it back to the Eastern time zone without a loss.
If there’s anything the Tigers have going for them that most of those other teams didn’t, it’s the West Coast presence on their roster. Both Davidson and his younger brother Blake are from Mission Viejo, Calif. Carter Welling and Jake Wahlin are from nearby Utah.
“We have some kids from Utah and California on our team,” Brownell said. “So to be able to bring them out here and have their families see them, I think it’s been really good for our group.”
Around the rim
- If January is, as Duke’s Scheyer likes to say, the month in which coaches learn who their teams are, then February is the time in which they begin polishing and fine tuning those units into a finished product. There’s an urgency that kicks in regardless of whether you’re looking to contend for a championship or desperate to finish strong and salvage at least a glimmer of hope of sneaking into the NCAA Tournament, as UNC did a season ago. A quick look at the remaining conference schedules gives a hint at which teams stand the best chance at accomplishing their goals and which have the toughest road ahead. The good news for all those teams chasing Scheyer’s unbeaten Blue Devils is that Duke has one of the toughest remaining schedules. Its opponents have compiled a cumulative 45-33 record and include all four teams directly below it in the standings. Of those four teams, Clemson figures to have the best shot at challenging. Not only do the Tigers play Duke on Feb. 14, only two of their other seven opponents are currently over .500 in the conference. Virginia has almost as favorable a schedule, with its opponents combining for a 40-37 ACC record, while NC State (46-33) and Louisville (41-35) have more challenging slates. As for the teams trying to play their way onto the right side of the bubble, Cal and SMU have the path of least resistance. Between them, they play only three more games against teams with winning conference records while each playing all three of the teams currently tied for last place in the league.
- Florida State got off to a rocky start in the ACC by losing its first five conference games under rookie coach Luke Loucks, but it’s not as if the Seminoles were playing that poorly. They took Duke down to the wire before dropping a four-point decision and lost to Wake Forest on a buzzer-beater. But things have finally begun to turn around for Loucks and his team. They’ve won three of their last four, including a sweep of the California teams in Tallahassee last week. The difference has been defense. After giving up 90 or more points in a three-game stretch against Duke, NC State and Syracuse, FSU has allowed fewer than 70 in three of the five games since. “Earlier in the season we were turning teams over, but when we didn’t turn them over they were scoring on us every time,” Loucks said. “We’ve really focused on our defense these last handful of games, getting back to our roots and making it tough for the other team to score. That’s always a good idea. I give our locker room a lot of credit for adjusting their focus midseason.” Though it’s probably too late for the Seminoles to get back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, their recent surge could end up spoiling the postseason plans of a future ACC opponent.
- Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Maliq Brown, Miami’s Ernest Udeh Jr., North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson and Syracuse’s William Kyle III were named to the 2026 Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, announced earlier this week. Kyle leads the ACC in blocked shots with 61, averaging 2.7 per game. Boozer, better known more for his offensive prowess, is tied for third in the league in steals with 42 while Wilson ranks in the top 10 in both categories with 34 steals and 29 blocks. But as Brown can attest, defense can’t always be quantified by statistics. The senior forward has been described by Scheyer as “a defensive menace” because of his long reach, quick hands and lateral movement. He leads Duke with 114 deflections, and although that’s not an official stat, it’s an indication of why he was selected to the ACC All-Defensive team in 2024 with Syracuse and is currently considered one of the nation’s best on-ball defenders.
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