Clemson hangs tough, comes up just short at Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — Clemson gave Duke all it wanted for 40 minutes Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but in the end the Tigers came just short of pulling off the monumental upset.

Blue Devils freshman Paolo Banchero scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, including a bucket with 10 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game, as Duke held on for a 71-69 victory.

Clemson (11-9, 3-6) and Duke (16-3, 6-2) were tied at 65 with 3 minutes remaining, but the Blue Devils made a couple of more shots down the stretch to pull out the victory.

“Great basketball game. I’m incredibly proud of my players and team for the way we competed, and just stuck to what we were trying to do tonight,” Tigers coach Brad Brownell said. “I thought we played very well on both ends and I give Duke’s kids credit. They made the plays they needed to make at the end of the game, big baskets down the stretch.”

The back-and-forth game featured 17 lead changes and seven ties. Clemson led by as many as five points late in the first half, while Duke pushed its lead to seven points midway through the second half.

But instead of letting the game get away from them, the Tigers battled back.

Clemson responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a Nick Honor 3-pointer, to take a 61-60 lead with 6:11 remaining.

After the teams exchanged a couple of baskets, Clemson had the ball with the score tied at 65 and 2:55 remaining.

PJ Hall, who led Clemson with 14 points and 10 rebounds, missed a 3-pointer. The Blue Devils capitalized, scoring the next four points.

Clemson cut Duke’s lead to 69-67 with 37 seconds left, but Banchero iced it with a bucket in the paint to give Duke a four point lead with 10 seconds remaining.

“That’s a tough loss for them, and a great win for us; it would’ve been the other way, too,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Both teams played their hearts out. … I thought they played great. Brad had them unbelievably prepared.”

Clemson lost despite having 19 more field goal attempts than Duke and outrebounding the Blue Devils 39-31.

The biggest difference was at the free throw line where Duke attempted 13 free throws, compared to one for Clemson.

Brownell was asked after the game if he was surprised the Tigers only had one free throw attempt.

“Um, yes,” he responded. “And it’s happened here before, too.”

While Hall led Clemson with 14 points, he was only 6 of 21 from the field.

“He’s a tremendous player and he had a couple bad luck. He had that tip dunk that he missed, got it to him low a couple times, he usually scores,” Brownell said. “Tonight, he hung in there and battled his tail off. I’m really proud of him, but we needed him to make two more baskets to win the
game. It happens.”

Hunter Tyson added 13 points for Clemson, while Chase Hunter finished with 12.

Clemson now gets more than a week off before hosting Florida State next Wednesday.

Of Clemson’s final 11 games, seven are at home. The Tigers are hoping to finish strong down the stretch and get back in the NCAA Tournament conversation.

“The last two games, Pittsburgh we won, we played well tonight. We
would rather be playing Saturday,” Brownell said. “But we’ve got some time, so we need to heal our wounds, make sure we keep this momentum, and stay connected, and be ready to compete for the home stretch.”