Story Poster
Brad Brownell
David Skara
Coach K
Clemson Basketball

No. 12 Duke strips No. 11 Clemson of undefeated home season

February 18, 2018
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CLEMSON -- In a heated, back-and-forth battle for second place in the ACC, No. 12 Duke made the plays No. 11 Clemson couldn’t in the game’s final 1:30 of action.

After a 10-0 Tiger run tied the game at 57, the Blue Devils closed the game with a 9-0 run of their own to hand Clemson its first home loss of the season.

Spectators wearing blue took over Littlejohn Coliseum with cheers of “let’s go, Duke,” in the game’s closing seconds as Clemson fell to the Blue Devils 66-57.

Elijah Thomas and Marcquise Reed led Clemson’s scoring with 13 points each. Thomas also brought down 15 rebounds amidst Duke’s size and athleticism.

Elijah Thomas and Marcquise Reed led Clemson’s scoring with 13 points each. Thomas also brought down 15 rebounds amidst Duke’s size and athleticism.

It was already an uphill battle for the Tigers, who were playing short-handed without Shelton Mitchell due to a concussion suffered at Florida State. The struggle from its veteran guards made the game against Duke too all of a mountain to climb.

“We just have to play better basketball,” head coach Brad Brownell said. “We’ve got to make better basketball plays if we are going to beat a top ten team.”

Clemson looked bothered in Mitchell’s absence, whether it was trying to break Duke’s trap or pass the ball on an inbounds play where he usually was the triggerman. Clemson turned the ball over 13 times on Sunday afternoon, ten of which were steals leading to transition for Duke.

“You’re moving guys out of positions a little bit,” Brownell said on Mitchell’s absence. “We had more turnovers than we probably would have had if we had Shelton and we had more rebounds than we probably would have had if they had Marvin Bagley. Both teams were without people… We don’t need to worry about the guys we don’t have, we need to worry about the ones that are out there.”

“We’ve got to make better basketball plays if we are going to beat a top ten team.”
- Brad Brownell

The Blue Devils were without Bagley, their freshman Player of the Year candidate, for the third game in a row due to a knee sprain. In Bagley’s absence, Wendell Carter Jr. made the game’s biggest basket with an and-one layup with 46 seconds remaining to give the Blue Devils a five-point lead.

Duke finished the game making only one of its last eight field goal attempts, but Carter Jr.’s bucket is what sealed it for the Blue Devils. 13 of Carter Jr.’s 15 points came in the second half.

The dagger came after Gary Trent Jr. made three free throws when Scott Spencer fouled him on a three-point shot. The Blue Devils made 22-of-26 free throws while Clemson made 10 of 12.

Meanwhile, the savvy veteran guards for Clemson who had played so well lately couldn’t get anything going. Reed and Gabe DeVoe combined to shoot 4-for-24 from the field.

“Our main attention was on DeVoe and Reed,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski after his team’s 22nd win of the season. “They are right at the top of the scouting report. It goes, ‘DeVoe, Reed. DeVoe, Reed. DeVoe, Reed.’ Make sure you know where those guys are.”

The Tigers, who usually live and die by the three-point shot, only made five on 20 attempts. Clemson came into the contest making at least ten in its last five games.

DeVoe struggled immensely, missing his first eight three-point attempts until his only make cut the lead to two with 2:53 remaining. A Skara layup completed the 10-point comeback, but Duke stayed calm when the pressure mounted the most.

“He needed to make more plays off the bounce,” Brownell said on DeVoe’s performance. “If they are guarding you that hard, you don’t just keep backing up and shoot quicker. You got to make an adjustment. Those nights happen. As a good guard and an older player, you got to make adjustments.”

The Blue Devils were led by senior Grayson Allen, who scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half. Brownell was proud of the way Skara defended Allen the entire game, causing him to work extremely hard to make four of ten shots. Nine of Allen’s 19 points came from the free-throw line.

“He’s the motor that gets them going,” Skara said. “Coach put me on him and I just tried to fulfill my tasks.

The Tigers had multiple scoring droughts against Duke’s zone defense, including one that lasted six-and-a-half minutes with ten minutes left in the second half.

The Tigers went 0 for 8 from the field in that span as Duke built its lead before Clemson made a run. A couple more made threes from DeVoe and one or two baskets down the stretch, and this game could have ended a lot differently. But Clemson couldn’t get over the hump.

“Give Duke a lot of credit,” Brownell said. “Their kids came in here and you could see a good focus in their eyes and they competed hard, played well, and made a couple more plays down the stretch than we did.”

The Tigers looks to avoid a third consecutive loss when they travel to Virginia Tech on Wednesday night.

 
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