Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: December 9th, 7:00 PM
TV: None
Records: UNC 6-1, High Point 6-3
Let me first say that while I generally steer clear of complaining about Duke coverage on ESPN, I think there is some inconsistency in the level of exposure on the WWL. Following Saturday's game against George Mason on ESPN at noon Duke will have had three games televised in a week. The game on Saturday and the game on Wednesday versus Holy Cross are the most interesting choices especially when the UNC game against High Point is not being televised. I would like someone to explain to me how a Duke team ranked lower than UNC and playing compeition that may be marginally better rates more face time on ESPN than UNC does. Do they really think Duke-Holy Cross would be rated that much better than UNC-High Point?
Anyway, just a minor annoyance in my eyes.
As for the game, UNC has had a week off and this begins a streak of seven games against less than quality opponents. This is the first of a good run of tuneup games which plenty of time in between to work on the kinks and get the rotation set ahead of the ACC season. The three freshman Lawson, Ellington, and Wright have played extremely well starting with the Ohio State game. UNC showed some signs they were starting to gel and the offense was definitely beginning to click against Ohio State but seemed to letdown against Kentucky. The defense remains the biggest concern and will most likely be the focal point over the remaining games before ACC play begins. I would not expect this game to be a major problem.
UNC 105 High Point 81