SHOP for officially-licensed Clemson gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
Clemson dropped its third straight Thursday night in a game where it was outclassed for much of the evening against No. 7 Duke. The 82-64 loss dropped Clemson to 12-12 on the season and 4-9 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone message board!
Duke (20-4, 10-3), who was upset by Clemson the last time the two teams met in Littlejohn Coliseum two years ago, never trailed Thursday night.
The Blue Devils, led by Trevor Keels' game-high 25 points, drew first blood on a Paolo Banchero jumper nearly two minutes in. Clemson's P.J. Hall would quickly respond with a dunk on the next possession.
The two teams were tied at four points apiece on a second free throw conversion by Al-Amir Dawes with just under three minutes expired. From there, Duke went on a 14-2 run, enjoying an 18-6 advantage following a Jeremy Roach layup with 11:55 remaining before intermission.
Another dunk by Hall nearly three minutes later capped an 8-0 run by the Tigers, but Duke would immediately respond with a 9-0 run of its own, maintaining a comfortable advantage into the break.
With 3:01 left before halftime, David Collins was ejected for a flagrant foul on Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. Collins subsequently apologized to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Moore, who finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting, would remain in the game. The Blue Devils would carry a comfortable 38-27 lead into the break.
Clemson scored the first two baskets of the second half and would trail just 45-40 at the 16:38 mark after Dawes hit from long range. The Tigers would come no closer the rest of the way.
A Mark Williams dunk off an assist from Moore would highlight a 20-6 Duke run and with 5:13 remaining the Blue Devils would enjoy a 75-53 lead. A Ben Middlebrooks dunk with 1:32 left would be the Tigers' final basket.
The Blue Devils shot 49.2-percent from the floor and hit 9-of-22 baskets (40.9%) from long range while the Tigers shot just 37.9% and connected on just 5-of-18 (27.8%) from three-point range.
Three players joined Keels in scoring double figures for Duke - Williams (16 points), Banchero (15) and A.J. Griffin (12).
Hall's 17 points led Clemson in scoring. Hall, who now has 23 consecutive games of reaching double figures in scoring, was 6-of-15 shooting. Naz Bohannon and Chase Hunter added 13 points apiece for the Tigers while true freshman forward Ian Schieffelin got his first career start. The Loganville (Ga.) native pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
Clemson head coach Brad Brownell fell to 3-12 all-time vs. Duke.
Duke, now the second ACC team to reach 20 wins this season, joining Wake Forest, will travel to Boston College (9-13, 4-8) on Saturday, while the Tigers will draw Notre Dame (17-7, 10-3) at home. The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. tip and will be televised by the ACC Network.
SHOP for officially-licensed Clemson gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
