In case it has slipped up on you, tonight is the season’s first installment of the UNC-Duke basketball game. Here are some thoughts:

- Brian Zoubek will have a nice game. Nothing awesome, mind you, but a nice game.

- I expect to see UNC’s Sophs and Terry on the floor in some crunch situations. Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor were on the floor when the Heels cut State’s 2nd half lead down to almost nothing. If Terry, Brandan Wright, and Ty Lawson play poorly, out of control, without intelligence or passion, they’ll be on the bench. Frasor and Ginyard were absolutely HUGE last year at Cameron.

- Josh McRoberts will have a near-career game. Roy Williams won’t put Hansbrough on him much because Josh will just stand out on the perimeter and take Tyler off the bounce. If Wright is on him, Josh will go down in the hole. Since Wright will not be able to help when McRoberts feeds cutting Dookies, the Heels may give up a fair number of lay-ups. And, as we know, Brandan is not the greatest rebounder. McRoberts is outstanding on the glass. Do the math – Josh may light up the Heels.

- As always, Reyshawn Terry could be the difference. No team not named Florida has a player like Terry. When Rey comes to play, he changes the game at both ends. This is especially true tonight. K would love to get away with covering Terry with Demarcus Nelson and Gerald Henderson. That would allow Duke to use Lance Thomas and David McClure (along with McRoberts and Zoubek) to counter the Heels front-court depth. If McClure and Thomas have to check Terry, that makes the other matchups a little more difficult for the Devils.

- The other X factor could be Alex Stepheson. I know he only plays a handful of minutes a game, but he’s great around the basket. If Tyler starts to get it going, the other Tar Heel big should have an opportunity to clean-up on the weak side. And, with Stepheson’s propensity to grab rebounds he might be perfectly suited to influence the game.

The game will be close throughout, and Duke will hit some timely 3’s down the stretch to win the game. If UNC is going to win it will take good games from some folks who haven’t been great lately. Wayne Ellington, Bobby Frasor, Terry and Wes Miller will need to hit some 3’s. Duke isn’t going to play off UNC’s perimeter players, but the Devils aren’t about to let the ball go inside easily. The 3-ball will be critical for the Heels.

Last thing – something tells me this one is headed for at least one OT. I just have a hunch.