By: Andrew da Roza, Kyle Ross, James Myers, Chase Harris, Amir Webster

     UNC and Duke played Wednesday, February 20th at Duke’s home court. The Tar Heels came out with the win after a hard-fought game.

     Seconds after the sound of the whistle that started what will undoubtedly be the first of many meetings between the rivals this season, Zion Williamson, a titan in the paint, perhaps Duke’s best player and even the number 1 draft pick, sprained his ankle and was unable to play the rest of the game. Not only did Duke suffer a blow to morale because of this, but UNC was able to take major advantage, sending Luke Maye, a competitive senior and the player that Zion would have guarded, to the rim almost every play. Zion’s absence in the remainder of the game due to his unforeseen injury might have helped to give Maye his record for highest scoring game at 36 points. Although Maye might have had a star game, Coby White, the prodigal freshman at UNC had a surprisingly low-scoring game of only 9 points.        

     Zion Williamson getting hurt played a big role in this game. Regardless of what happened, UNC still earned the W. If Zion, who is projected to go number 1 in the draft would have played, perhaps the outcome of the game would have been different. Zion is shooting 68.9% from the field this year along with 21.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. He is also one of the best defenders for Duke. This was a big loss for them both.

     The competition between the two blues will continue and the next game will be March 9th at UNC. Who is your pick for the next game?