Tobacco Road foes open their ACC tournament runs

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

In-state rivals Duke and North Carolina join the ACC tournament field March 12 during the quarterfinal round.

The ACC tournament is underway and two perennial contenders are ready to tip off. 

Duke and North Carolina secured double byes and open play on Thursday. Duke, who won the regular season title and top seed, await the winner of No. 8 Florida State-No. 9 California. North Carolina, the fourth seed, play the No. 13 Wake Forest-No. 5 Clemson winner. 

Injury hits both squads

Contact sports come with their fair share of injuries, but they couldn’t have come at a more in-opportune time for both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels. 

Tar Heels freshman Caleb Wilson — a projected top five pick in the 2026 NBA Draft — has missed significant time already due to a hand injury. He was close to returning to action when he sustained an injury on his other hand, resulting in thumb surgery. He will miss the remainder of the season. 

For the Blue Devils, center Patrick Ngongba is dealing with foot soreness that caused him to miss the regular season finale against North Carolina. During the same game, starting point guard Caleb Foster sustained a right foot injury.

Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said Foster sustained a break and is out for the foreseeable future with hopes of having him available for the NCAA tournament. Ngongba will miss the ACC tournament. 

Making do 

Both the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have talent from top to bottom on their rosters. 

Duke will lean on ACC player of the year and freshman of the year Cameron Boozer like they have all season long. Boozer averages 22.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 58.3% from the floor. 

The Blue Devils will also need big contributions from backup point guard Cayden Boozer, Cameron’s brother. Cayden averages 6.5 points, 2.8 assists and 2 rebounds per game on 50% shooting. He averages 20.7 minutes per game, but that is likely to go up dramatically in the absence of Foster. 

Sophomore guard Isaiah Evans, who played his high school basketball at North Mecklenburg, will look to have another productive tournament. Evans averages 14.4 points per game and shoots 37% from three-point range. Evans stepped up last season in last year’s tournament when Cooper Flagg went down with an injury. He will need to do the same this year.

Without Ngongba, Duke will turn to the ACC’s defensive player of the year and sixth man of the year Maliq Brown, who scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting against North Carolina in the regular season finale. He also had five steals and a block. 

North Carolina will have to do what the Tar Heels have been doing the whole time in Wilson’s absence – share the basketball. They have a complete roster with guards like Seth Trimble and Derek Dixon. Trimble hit the game-winner against Duke in their first meeting in February. Dixon scored a team-high 17 points in the second game against the Blue Devils. 

Center Henri Veesaar will be crucial for the Tar Heels if they hope to win the tournament. The junior transfer from Arizona averages 16.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and shoots 61.4% from the floor, which ranks 21st in the nation. With Wilson done for the year, a lot of the paint touches will funnel through Veesaar. 

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