The Clemson Tigers took down the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night at Littlejohn Coliseum, winning 77-71. With the win, the team gave the Blue Devils their first loss in ACC play.
The two teams traded the lead throughout the last four minutes, hitting key shot after key shot. However, Duke’s Cooper Flagg drove into the paint and slipped, turning the ball over. Another defensive possession later, Chase Hunter blocked a Tyrese Proctor layup to seal the game.
Rebounding was the issue for Clemson (19-5, 11-2 ACC) in its previous contest against Georgia Tech, but the team used its glass presence to gain control of the game. The Tigers collected 36 rebounds to Duke’s 23, scoring 15 points from second chances.
Head coach Brad Brownell saw plenty of shots fall from the floor from his team, with Clemson shooting 58.8% from the field in the win. The Tigers scored only four 3-pointers in the win as well. Viktor Lakhin led the team in scoring, scoring a team-high 22 points and recording four rebounds.
A second half defensive front for the Tigers put the team back in it. The team held off the Blue Devils (20-3, 12-1 ACC) from scoring for over five minutes in the middle of the second half. Clemson was able to score 10 unanswered points from the drought, bringing the team back into the fight.
With an Ian Schieffelin 3-pointer and a Chase Hunter layup, the 5-point swing gave the Tigers their first lead of the game with 12:23 remaining in the game.
Flagg, the No. 1-projected pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, only scored four in the first half, but he finished with 18 points at the end of the game, with the other 14 points coming in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Duke used 18 points off turnovers in the first half to propel to a strong lead. The team led by as much as 9 points in the first frame, sinking six of 10 total threes.
Ian Schieffelin recorded another double-double, scoring 12 and collecting 10 rebounds to help the effort down low for the Tigers. Jaeden Zackery also added 12 points, playing all 40 minutes in the win.
The win puts the Tigers back into the top cohort of the ACC, as they are now tied with Louisville for the second spot. With the win over Duke, Clemson is only one win behind the Blue Devils for the lead in the ACC regular seasons standings.
Up next, Clemson will host North Carolina on Monday night to finish off the team’s three-day home stretch of Tobacco Road teams.
