North Carolina hits the difficult Atlantic Coast Conference road tonight when they travel to Georgia Tech for a 9 p.m. tipoff. The Thrillerdome, where the Tar Heels have not won since 2001, has been a particularly inhospitable environment.
No. 1/1 Carolina (17-0, 2-0) travels to Georgia Tech (7-8, 0-2) in its second ACC road game. The Yellow Jackets are returning home for the first time since January 6th; they lost their last two games, both on the road, to Georgia and Miami. They lost at Miami, 78-68, in their last contest. At 17-0, Carolina has tied its best start since 1998 when the future Final Four team began the year 17-0.
Duke got its ACC schedule started on a high note, but if recent history is any indication, keeping that momentum going against Florida State won’t be easy.
The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will be trying to beat the Seminoles for the first time in three meetings tonight when the teams meet in Tallahassee, Fla.
Duke (13-1, 1-0) cruised past Virginia 87-65 in its conference opener on Sunday, winning its third straight. The Blue Devils, who went a disappointing 8-8 in ACC play last season, shot 50.7 percent, never trailed, led by double figures for the entire second half, hit 11 3-pointers and shut down Virginia’s perimeter game.
“This is the way we need to play,” said guard Gerald Henderson, who scored 18 points.
Duke’s lone defeat came on Dec. 20 in a 65-64 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. The Blue Devils are outscoring their opponents by an average of 22.0 points, the third-best mark in the nation.
However, Duke has struggled against Florida State (12-5, 1-1) over the last two seasons. The Seminoles won 68-67 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 4 last season and 79-74 at home on March 1, 2006, handing Duke its first conference loss that season after 14 wins.
*****from goheels.com and goduke.com*****
If I were a bedding man….
I would take the Heels -11 to cover against those pesky Jackets. While the Thrillerdome has been our undoing as of late, expect “Pyscho T” to go to the line early and often in what should be an easy rout of Paul Hewitt’s squad.
I also like DOOK -5.5 against a decimated FSU team. Coach K is a Rat! LOL!
I’m 0-0 for the year, but keep checking out my picks….They will make you LOTS of MONEY!!!! We’ll leave it in bag on Commerce Street tonight.