Duke throttles Clemson with stifling defense, 3-pointers
DURHAM – Duke missed a chance to extend its lead against Clemson in the first half.
The Blue Devils didn’t miss such a chance in the second half.
Duke pulled away from Clemson for a 67-54 win on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils will stay atop the ACC because, in part, they made double-digit 3-pointers for the first time since Jan. 10.
Cameron Boozer scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, including two 3s in about 80 seconds. The second of those sparked a 10-0 run by Duke (23-2, 12-1 ACC) — the Blue Devils’ 28th kill shot of the season (a run of at least 10 straight points is a kill shot).
That was a Boozer-fueled run, too. Cameron scored the first five and Cayden Boozer had the next five.
With Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Tyrese Proctor in baseline seats near Duke’s bench, Duke did one of the only things it didn’t do last year: Beat Clemson.
Clemson (20-6, 10-3) never got the deficit under 16 until the final possession, when Dillon Hunter threw in a 3-pointer in the last 10 seconds.
Clemson’s 54 points are a season low. Duke held the Tigers to a 35.1% field goal clip (20-for-57).
Duke missed a chance to extend its lead toward the end of the first half. We hit halftime with the Blue Devils up 31-26.
An Isaiah Evans 3-pointer made it 28-20 and Clemson coach Brad Brownell called a timeout to beat the under-4 media timeout. The Tigers missed a crazy shot on the ensuing possession and Duke got a fast break out of it.
But Dame Sarr missed a layup in transition and Clemson’s Ace Buckner drained a 3 on the other end. Instead of Duke being up 10, it was a five-point game.
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