Duke @ North Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2019 ) Duke 70, North Carolina 79

North Carolina and Duke - the second and third seeds - renew their storied rivalry in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday at Charlotte, N.C., with Zion Williamson poised to expand on the 36 seconds he's experienced in the series. Williamson, the Blue Devils freshman phenom, suffered a knee injury in the first minute of the first meeting Feb. 20 and missed the next five games before making a triumphant return in Duke's 84-72 victory over sixth-seeded Syracuse in Thursday's quarterfinals.

The No. 3 Tar Heels defeated the No. 5 Blue Devils 88-72 in the game Williamson was injured and also prevailed 79-70 on Saturday in the regular-season finale. Williamson, who joined Duke's Jahlil Okafor (2015) and Marvin Bagley III (2018) as the only players in ACC history to win Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, showed no rust Thursday in a dominating performance that included 29 points, 14 rebounds, five steals and making all 13 of his field-goal attempts. North Carolina advanced to the semifinals with an 83-70 victory over seventh-seeded Louisville on Thursday for its eighth straight win behind 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one turnover from freshman guard Coby White. "I get on him about his shots and I get on him about his turnovers," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams told reporters. "But he is making much better decisions. It's attack, attack, attack. That's what we talk about all the time. We want to attack like crazy and be under control."

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT DUKE (27-5): Freshman RJ Barrett and Williamson are 1-2 in the ACC in scoring at 23.3 and 21.9 points per game with Barrett scoring 23 on Thursday and averaging 25.7 over his last three contests. Williamson averages a team-high 9.0 rebounds and is shooting a conference-best 69.6 percent from the floor - better than his free-throw percentage, which sits at 64.6 percent after he went 2-for-9 versus Syracuse. Freshman guard Tre Jones (8.9 points, team-high 5.4 assists) scored 15 points and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line Thursday while recording eight assists - his most since dishing out a career-high nine in the ACC opener versus Clemson on Jan. 5.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (27-5): Senior forward Luke Maye (14.8 points, team-high 10.4 rebounds) recorded 19 points and nine rebounds Thursday - snapping a string of six straight games with 10 or more boards. White (16.4 points, club-best 4.2 assists), whose 76 3-pointers this season are the most by a freshman in school history, is averaging 22.6 points in his last five contests. Senior guard Cameron Johnson (team-most 16.8 points) has scored 14 points in each of his last two games after averaging 21.3 in his previous six contests.

TIP-INS

1. Barrett increased his ACC freshman scoring record to 747 points and has totaled at least 13 in every game this season.

2. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are 1-2 nationally in rebounding at 43.5 and 41.9 per game.

3. North Carolina and Duke each have 101 victories in the ACC Tournament and have combined to win 38 of the 65 titles (Blue Devils 20-18) with Duke winning 13 of the 22 meetings.

PREDICTION: Duke 88, North Carolina 76