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5 college games Detroit Pistons fans should watch this weekend

By Blake Stackpoole

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 04: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans during game action against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Breslin Center on February 4, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 04: Xavier Tillman #23 of the Michigan State Spartans during game action against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Breslin Center on February 4, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images)
Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images) /

North Carolina at #12 Duke 6:00 pm EST on ESPN (Saturday)

We get another edition of the famous UNC Duke rivalry this afternoon. Duke is competing for the regular season title and more importantly is looking to sweep their hated rival, the UNC Tarheels.

Duke has been struggling a bit this year, but a majority of their losses are on the road so they should be alright in the game. UNC will be up for this game as they have nothing to lose being one of the worst teams in the ACC, so expect a closer game than the 10.5 points Vegas expects Duke to win by.

I’m not going to be going to much detail on the Tarheel side of the game as I did in an earlier edition of college games Piston fans should watch. Duke has some solid NBA prospects. According to Tankathon, Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Jr., and Cassius Stanley are all top 30 prospects.

Jones is projected to go to the Celtics at 25, Carey to the Thunder at 26, and Stanley going to the Grizzlies at pick 40. Duke has one of the strangest offenses in clutch time this year, Jones hero ball.

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It seems that Carey fouls out nearly every game and then down the stretch, Jones just clears it out and drives to the rim. Against UNC last time this worked but not against Wake Forest or NC State, which shows how bad UNC really is this season.

Looking at the players themselves, Carey is averaging 17.6 points and 8.7 rebounds, playing like a Marvin Bagley-lite. Jones averages 16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists, on 35.3 minutes a game. When you compare this to Vernon Carey’s 24.8 minutes, you can see the foul trouble.

Stanley is averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds and does a good job of supporting Jones.

This game has major ramifications for the ACC tournament seeding and regular season title as Louisville is tied for first with a 15-4 conference record and Duke and Virginia are tied for second with a 14-5 record.

This would mean that if Boston College upsets Florida State, Virginia beats Louisville, and Duke beats UNC, there will be a 4-way tie for first of the ACC.