Clemson broke open a close game in the final four minutes to defeat Duke 72-64 in Death Valley Saturday evening to run their ACC record to 7-0, while dropping Duke to 4-3.
Mark Mitchell scored inside off of an offensive rebound to make it 58-56 Clemson with 5:07 left in the game. Duke would hit 8 of 11 from the line in the final five minutes but missed their last seven shots from the field, with three turnovers thrown in.
“They’re really good defensively,” Jon Scheyer said. “They’re physical, their pick-and-roll defense is good as anybody that we’ve played. And it’s, for us, learning how to play through that. You’re going to play really good defenses, and down the stretch, knowing how to manufacture points for each other, it’s not going to be as much on your own getting one. And we’re still learning that. Thought for the first 30, 35 minutes, we did a really good job. Missed some shots, and we have to finish through some contact but it’s just learning how to score together in those situations against really good defense.”
On the other side of the court Duke couldn’t stop Clemson’s senior post P.J. Hall, who hit 10 of 16 on the way to a game-high 26 points.
But Ian Schiefflelin and Brevin Galloway made the big plays in Clemson’s decisive run. Schiefflelin’s layup put the home team up 60-57 with 2:43 remaining and Galloway’s and-one three-point play made it 63-57 with 1:57 left.
“Especially in that second half, I think it came down to them getting in our paint too easily,” Jon Scheyer acknowledged.
Absent captain Jeremy Roach--still out with that toe injury--Duke lacked the poise and experience to fight through the shooting slump that jumped up at the wrong time.
There were several times when it looked like Duke might be poised to seize control. Duke fell behind 7-2 out of the gate but used an 8-0 run to take a 23-20 lead; Tyrese Proctor scored the final six points of that run.
Duke’s biggest first-half lead came at 30-22. But Galloway hit a 3 and Hall had an old-fashioned three-point play and Duke went into the locker room up 34-30.
Duke got another eight-point lead in the second half, at 44-36. But Clemson tied it with eight straight points and the two teams traded baskets until the Tigers dominated the final four minutes.
“I think we just kind of made some careless passes,” Kyle Filipowski said of that disastrous stretch run. “We weren’t getting any shots off in the last five minutes or so, we were turning the ball over more again. So, I think we’ve got to stay a little more poised in that situation. Not let anything else affect us, everybody take care of the ball, do what we did the whole game. And I think the effort overall too, just with some defensive possessions as well, not getting the loose ball or rebound at the end was kind of killer for us.”
Filipowski led Duke with 18 points and 14 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. He was joined in double figures by Proctor with 17 points and Ryan Young with 10. But the Blue Devils were a woeful 3 for 20 from beyond the arc, Proctor 2 for 9, Filipowski 1 for 5.
And Duke only had nine assists.
Clemson wasn’t much better from downtown, 3 for 17. But they turned it over only nine times--Duke had 11-and shot 24 for 42 (57 percent) on two-point shots.
Duke doesn’t play again until next Saturday, when they host Miami. Scheyer said Duke will monitor Roach’s condition and try to get back “to who we are as a team,” which means more inside offense and fewer forced 3s.
Fun fact. Matt Hurt could be a senior on this team, DJ Steward a junior, instead of living the good life in the G-League.
I’m having a real struggle “connecting “
To this team . My long time fan allegiance is slipping badly .
They simply aren’t fun to watch. Team success starts when an ascent and then nosedives rapidly .
Can’t seem to locate a leader ..
I ve factored in a lot : freshmen, transfers , injuries, new coach etc but …
Reminiscing about senior leadership ( Mild mannered Kevin Strickland 👏)
And I surely long for getting to know the players,their personalities, improvement over 3-4 years ;( I smile every time I remember David Henderson)
I know -stay loyal , keep the faith , ..
But this year has been a really bumpy road for this longtime Dukie