#4 Duke 67-#20 Clemson 54 Game Summary
CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM
- Brad Brownell devised a deliberate game plan for Clemson, looking to use most of the shot clock and work the offense through his big men. That strategy worked for much of the first half as the Tigers led 18-17 with 9:07 left in the first half after a dunk by RJ Godfrey.
- Then, Duke started to make shots and turned up its defense, and the Blue Devils were able to build a first half lead. Clemson missed five straight shots, and Duke got three-pointers from Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr to go up 23-18.
- Evans later hit another three as Duke went up by eight at 28-20, and the Blue Devils led at the half 31-26 after Clemson missed a free throw and its last four shots from the floor in the last two minutes.
- Duke seized control of the game to start the second half. The Blue Devils scored the first six points of the half, with Evans hitting another three, for a 38-26 lead. Clemson missed its first six shots of the second half. Going back to the end of the first half, Clemson went through a 2-19 shooting stretch during which Duke grew its lead to 52-31.
- The Tigers got as close as 14 points with 9:55 to play, then Duke took the steam out of any real comeback by the Tigers by scoring five straight points for a 57-38 lead with 8:54 remaining.
- The lead eventually reached 22 points. Clemson outscored the Blue Devils 11-2 over the final four minutes to make the final spread more respectable.
- Duke limited Clemson to a 35% shooting performance, and only 6-24 from three. The Blue Devils finished at 43%, but had a much higher second half percentage until missing eight of their final nine shots.
- Cam Boozer sparked the Blue Devils in the second half when he scored 12 of his game high 18 points. Evans finished with four threes and a total of 17 points.
- Carter Welling led the Tigers with 12 points, and Godfrey added 10 points and eight rebounds. Clemson’s starting backcourt of Dillon Hunter and Jestin Porter combined for eight points on 3-12 shooting, including 1-9 from three.
- The loss snaps the Tigers 14 game ACC road winning streak, and it extends their winless streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium to 22 games. The Tigers last won at Duke in 1995. Clemson is now 4-62 at Cameron.
- Clemson has now lost back-to-back games for a second time this season. The Tigers are 20-5 and 10-3 and will play at Wake Forest Wednesday night.
- Duke is 23-2 and 12-1 and remains atop the standings in the ACC. The Blue Devils will host Syracuse on Monday night.