Duke, Heels to cruise past ACC pretenders

By Charles Paradis

For the Daily

Last year's selection day for the NCAA Tournament is burning in the minds of both No. 12 Virginia and No. 6 North Carolina. Despite two loses to Virginia in ACC play, the Tar Heels squeezed into the Tournament, while the Cavaliers were left out.

Matt Doherty's Tar Heels are strengthened by the addition of point guard Ronald Curry and forward Julius Peppers. The two were occupied playing quarterback and defensive end, respectively, for North Carolina until the football season ended.

Peppers adds size to an already impressive lineup with the seven-footer, Brendan Haywood, and 6-foot-11 Kris Lang.

Virginia's weakness has been lack of size underneath the basket. Travis Watson, standing at 6-8, is the most talented big man the Cavaliers have in the paint.

Combined with the size difference, the Dean Smith Center is a hard place to play for opponents. Need proof? Ask Clemson, which just lost its 47th straight game there. On top of all this, North Carolina is currently enjoying a 12-game win streak.

Donald Hand and Chris Williams must step up and overcome size and environment if the Cavaliers are going to stay with the Tar Heels tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

North Carolina 85, Virginia 78

No. 2 Duke at No. 10 Maryland

Saturday, 8 p.m. ESPN

When the Blue Devils travel to Cole Field House to take on the Terrapins, they will meet a team with tremendous potential - a team which has not capitalized on that potential as of yet.

The Terrapins are third in scoring offense, averaging 89.9 points-per-game. Unfortunately for them, Duke is No. 1, averaging 94.2 per game. They have cleared the century mark five times this season.

Duke's Jason Williams and Shane Battier and Maryland's Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Terrence Morris will be the five key players in this game.

Maryland's big three combined for 68 points in the Terrapins' 81-71 win over Wake Forest. But with Dixon's status questionable for the game on Saturday, Maryland may not be at its best.

The Terrapins rely on Dixon, their sophomore guard, to put points on the board. He will also need to play solid defense to prevent Jason Williams from having a big game. Dixon must force Williams to dish the ball off and let the taller Morris try to stop Battier.

Duke 94, Maryland 87

Indiana at No. 17 Iowa

Saturday, 1:05 p.m. CBS

Bob Knight successor Mike Davis put some worries behind him after winning his first two games with Indiana. People predicted a new era in the making. The post-Knight era quickly changed into the Mike Davis era.

The Hoosiers remained unproven until they faced Michigan State at home. What should have been a win for the Spartans ended with Kirk Haston's fade-away buzzer-beater from beyond the arc to win the game, 59-58.

The season looked to be on the up and up until Michigan dropped the Hoosier's for a loss later that week. Speaking of Wolverines, they served Iowa a devastating home loss last weekend.

Watch for the Hawkeyes to defend their home court this time - and don't count on Luke Recker going 1-for-7 from beyond the arc again either. He has posted 17.6 points per game to lead Iowa, and Reggie Evans is also a force with 15.1.

Indiana's hopes rest with Freshman sensation Jared Jeffries with 13.3 points per game and Kirk Hasten averaging 17.3.

Iowa 74, Indiana 61

No. 8 Wake Forest at Cincinnati

Saturday, 1 p.m. ABC

Wake Forest is coming off of a disastrous loss to Maryland (81-71) and a win over Clemson. But before they play Cincinnati, the Demon Deacons must travel to Durham and face Duke and the Cameron Crazies.

Cincinnati should watch out if Duke wins that game, because Wake Forest rebounded from a loss to North Carolina by defeating Florida State by 23.

Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins has lost a lot of talent to the NBA with the departures of Kenyon Martin and DerMarr Johnson. His team has dropped two of its five conference games in Conference USA.

The Bearcats of last year are no more, and Cincinnati is in desperate need of a win. A few of their remaining assets, Kenny Satterfield and Steve Logan, will have to achieve personal bests to beat the Demon Deacons.

Watch for Wake to come into Cincinnati angry and with a mission. Road wins are hard to come by, and it will be up to the team's leading scorers, Darius Songaila and Josh Howard to clinch the win.

Wake Forest 79, Cincinnati 64

AP PHOTO

Shane Battier leads No. 2 Duke (14-1) against No. 10 Maryland (14-4) Saturday.