DURHAM, N.C. – As hard as Clemson’s men’s basketball team fought to wake up from it, the Tigers’ nightmare at Cameron Indoor Stadium continues.
Clemson pushed No. 9 Duke to the brink Tuesday but ultimately lost out on what would’ve been its most significant win of the season with a 71-69 setback to the Blue Devils. PJ Hall led the Tigers (11-9, 3-6 ACC) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Hunter Tyson scored 13 points, and Chase Hunter added 12 points in his second game in the starting lineup for the Tigers, who got almost everything they needed to notch their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since the mid-1990s.
Clemson got off 19 more shots (71 to Duke’s 52), knocked down 11 of its 26 3-pointers and even neutralized Duke’s size advantage on the interior by outrebounding the Blue Devils by eight (39-31) and finishing plus-6 in paint points (28-22). But the Blue Devils shot 50% from deep and better than 48% overall to ultimately keep Clemson from notching that elusive win in Duke’s home building, a place the Tigers haven’t won since the 1994-95 season.
Star freshman Paolo Banchero had 14 of his 19 points in the second half for Duke, including the final couple of buckets after Clemson chipped away at a seven-point deficit with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left.
The teams traded buckets down the stretch until Joey Baker’s runner in the lane put Duke up 67-65 with 2:15 left. Banchero then gave the Blue Devils a two-possession lead with a baseline jumper. After Tyson got free for an outlet pass and a dunk to get Clemson back within a possession, Duke again got the ball back to its 6-10 freshman in isolation along the baseline.
Banchero again finished over a defender to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 71-67 with 38.9 seconds left. David Collins eventually scored the Tigers’ final basket on a putback with 1.7 ticks left, but it was too little, too late for Clemson, which shot 41% from the field and forced the Blue Devils into 12 turnovers, though only three of those came after halftime.
Clemson also shot just one free throw to Duke’s 13. The Blue Devils, who also got 13 points from Wendell Moore Jr. and 11 from Baker, made 11 of those freebies.
Hall shot 6 of 21 from the field with seven of those attempts coming from 3-point range. He made two of those, including one in the waning seconds of the first half to send the teams to the break knotted at 36.
It was a theme for the Tigers early. Clemson struggled to score near the basket against the Blue Devils’ size, but the Tigers shot 50% from deep (6 of 12) in the opening 20 minutes. Clemson also turned Duke over nine times in the opening half, converting those into 12 points.
The Tigers also benefited from two quick fouls picked up by Banchero, who played just nine of the first 20 minutes. A baseline dunk by Tyson followed by a 3 from Al-Amir Dawes gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 31-26. Duke answered with a quick 6-0 spurt capped by Wendell Moore’s steal and flush, forcing Brad Brownell to use a timeout to halt the Blue Devils’ momentum.
Hall had nine first-half points, including a putback slam that put Clemson back on top on its next offensive sequence. His tying 3 with 10 seconds left in the half helped the Tigers offset a 46% shooting clip for Duke in the opening 20 minutes, including the Blue Devils knocking down six of their first 10 3s.
This story will be updated.