Clemson beats No. 24 Duke to remain unbeaten in ACC play

Before the season, it seemed possible that the winner of the Clemson-Duke game in mid-January would be atop the ACC standings.

Most people just didn’t expect that team to be Clemson.

The Tigers beat Duke 72-64 Saturday evening at Littlejohn Coliseum as Clemson continued its perfect start in ACC play.

Clemson improved to 7-0 in the ACC with the win over the Blue Devils. Every other team in the ACC has at least two losses.

“Obviously a great day in Littlejohn. Just so happy for my players. These guys work so hard and have done it for so long,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We didn’t play great tonight, and a lot of that’s because of Duke, but our guys hung in there.”

Junior forward PJ Hall was excellent in Clemson’s win, leading all scorers with 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting.

He was only able to play 27 minutes as he continues to work his way back to full healthy, but the Dorman product was a handful for the Blue Devils.

“PJ was very comfortable in the moment. He was very comfortable in the atmosphere,” Brownell said.

Chase Hunter and Hunter Tyson entered the game as Clemson’s top two leading scorers, but they combined to go 3-for-16 from the field and neither player reached double figures.

It didn’t matter, though, as Hall and Brevin Galloway stepped up. The super senior Galloway scored 17 points, including five straight with about six minutes remaining. He turned a one-point deficit into a four-point lead and gave the Tigers the lead for good.

“That’s why we’re 7-0 is you have multiple options that are good players that can win, make winning plays at the end of the game. You’ve gotta have really good players. We have older, experienced, good players who have been through some things,” Brownell said.

“We believe that on any given night, and tonight it’s Brevin and PJ, it’s been Chase and Hunter one night. We’ve got enough guys that we think we can get a couple going right.”

Sophomore forward Ian Schieffelin and redshirt freshman guard Josh Beadle also played well for the Tigers.

Schieffelin played a complete game, finishing with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He also drew three charges and helped hold Duke star Kyle Filipowski to only 8-for-22 from the floor.

“He was very smart defensively. I think he anticipated, moved to the spot, beat him to the spot some. He fought like crazy in the post and swirled a couple in in there using the rim, because he’s not as athletic or as big,” Brownell said of Schieffelin. “So he had to figure out some other ways to make some plays. But he was terrific. His rebounding, his finishing, his passing was unbelievable.”

Up next, the Tigers will play at Wake Forest on Tuesday as they look to continue their unbeaten play in the ACC.