Duke vs. UNC Predictions: Players Who Must Come Up Big in Tobacco Road Showdown

Duke and North Carolina are set to renew their Tobacco Road rivalry when they meet for the 233rd time at the Dean Dome on Wednesday in a pivotal ACC clash. Both college basketball superpowers will hope to set aside their uneven seasons thus far to make way for the blood-curdling intensity that's bound to boil over between these two star-studded squads.

Of all the blue-chip prospects and future NBA stars that will take to the hardwood in Chapel Hill, these three will play particularly crucial roles in deciding the outcome this time around.

Austin Rivers

To label Austin Rivers a "disappointment" thus far would be to overlook the fact that he's still leading Duke in scoring as a freshman, even if he's not quite living up to the massive hype with which he was burdened upon his arrival in Durham.

Not that Doc Rivers' most precocious son doesn't have plenty to work on before he becomes a can't-miss NBA superstar. For all of his irrational confidence, Rivers remains rather impotent in the clutch—a damning trait that was on full display when he missed one of two crunch-time free throws that would've put the Blue Devils ahead of Miami towards the end of regulation on Sunday.

Instead, Duke went on to lose to the Hurricanes at home in overtime, with Rivers missing all four of his shots (two three-pointers and two free throws) in the extra five minutes.

Mike Krzyzewski will need his young star to perform much better under pressure than he did this past weekend, seeing as how there will be so much more of it bearing down on him at UNC. 

Harrison Barnes

If Rivers wants to see what a real All-American wing player looks like, he'd do well to pay close attention to Harrison Barnes. The star sophomore has been steady, if not spectacular at times, since finding the proper light switch toward the end of his freshman campaign.

Which, interestingly enough, was fraught with as much hype and relative disappointment as, if not more than, Rivers.

Not surprisingly, Barnes has put in somewhat sub-par numbers in each of the Tar Heels' three losses on the season, during which he's shot a combined 16-for-41 from the field with just 10 total free throws.

On the flip side, Barnes has come up nails for UNC in big situations before. He battled through a sprained right ankle to score 18 points in the Heels' 84-73 win at Maryland on Saturday. Bum ankle or no, Barnes will need to be at or near the top of his game if the Carolina Blues are to hold serve at home against their hated rivals. 

Kendall Marshall

Barnes' life on the court will be much easier so long as he has Kendall Marshall finding him in the right spots and hitting him in stride. The sophomore point guard has taken his game to the next level this year, averaging a whopping 9.8 assists per game to go along with 6.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals.

Marshall's numbers have been boosted by 10 double-digit dime efforts, including three in his last four games.

As always, Marshall's magnificence will be crucial to UNC's efforts in a big game, with the annual dance with the Blue Devils being the biggest one on the 2011-12 calendar to date.

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