Saturday night will be one of the most electrifying atmospheres in all of college basketball, as the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the Duke Blue Devils at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Both teams have had incredible success this season, especially Duke, which enters this contest with a 21-1 overall record, including a 10-0 conference record. Meanwhile, North Carolina is 18-4, with a 6-3 conference record. While the Tar Heels’ success hinges on the starting lineup, the supporting cast and bench production has been the team’s secret weapon the last two weeks. Here are predictions for a few players off the bench who can make a significant impact.
Luka Bogavac
Stat line prediction: 10 points and 2 rebounds
The overseas transfer has been instrumental in the last three games for North Carolina, scoring at least 10 points in each of those outings. That will have to be the case again on Saturday night. Head coach Hubert Davis spoke on Bogavac’s impact in the win over Syracuse on Monday.
“I thought Luka was really good defensively,” Davis said. “[He] did a really nice job defending, trying to help out rebounding the basketball. He was getting to the offensive glass and didn’t get any offensive rebounds, but he went. That’s something that is a job and a requirement of our wing players to get to the offensive glass.”
“Just had a real nice rhythm and pace on the offensive end,” Davis continued. “Being able to shoot the ball, and his ability to pass is real. He’s in a nice rhythm right now, and I’m really happy with his play.”
Jonathan Powell
Stat line prediction: 8 points and 3 rebounds
Powell had his best outing of the season on Monday night, scoring 12 points while shooting 4-of-5 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. The sophomore forward will have to replicate something close to that against an elite opponent. Davis explained Powell’s impact in the win over the Orange.
“Jonathan [Powell], I thought, did a really nice job for us,” Davis said. “Obviously, his ability to be able to shoot the basketball was good, but he’s a big guard, physical, competitive. In our switches, he can guard one through four. He does a really nice job rebounding. He even led us in rebounding at Virginia. He can do a number of different things and impact winning in a number of different areas. I thought he played really well tonight.”
Jarin Stevenson
Stat line prediction: 7 points and 4 rebounds
The Alabama transfer’s production has picked up since the start of conference play, hitting 42.8 percent of his three-point attempts. Stevenson has been labeled as a Swiss-army knife by his head coach and teammates, and that will need to be the case on Saturday night.
With Duke’s size and length, Stevenson could see an expanded role in a must-win game, in terms of solidifying the Tar Heels as a legitimate contender.
