Clemson couldn’t overcome three consecutive turnovers late in the second half, nor a sequence of controversial calls in the closing seconds, en route to a 72-71 loss to No. 12 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday
The Tigers (13-6 overall, 3-5 ACC) fought hard and had a chance to put the game away late, but Ian Schieffelin’s three turnovers on three straight possessions kept hope alive for Duke, who went ahead for good with one second left on the clock after a controversial foul call on Josh Beadle sent Tyrese Proctor to the foul line.
Proctor sank both shots to give the Blue Devils (15-4 overall, 6-2 ACC) their 21st consecutive victory over Clemson at Cameron dating back to 1995.
Proctor’s game-clinching free throws came after referees missed what appeared to be an obvious traveling violation by the star Duke guard just a split second before they blew the whistle on Beadle.
It was a sequence of events that caused Clemson coach Brad Brownell to toss his jacket to the floor in frustration. Brownell remained heated well after the game.
“I’m angry, I’m not going to lie to you. I have to watch what I say here, but yeah, the game felt like it was taken from us a little at the end,” Brownell said afterwards.
Duke went to the foul line 25 times in the second half and shot free throws on seven of its last 12 possessions.
Then there was the bizarre technical foul assessed to Clemson’s Jack Clark in the first half after referees ruled that the senior forward had shoved the ball at an opposing player.
“Obviously we don’t condone that kind of behavior here, but when I saw (the replay), it didn’t look like much,” Brownell said. “To be given a technical on that is ridiculous. That’s letting the emotion of the building affect the officials and creating stuff that’s not even there. I thought that happened to us several times today.”
Duke used a 14-2 run to get out to a 29-20 lead early. But Clemson closed the opening period on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 32-26 at intermission.
Then the Tigers turned things on in the second half. PJ Hall drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Clemson its first lead of the half at 57-56 with 7:31 to play. Clemson would up the lead to four after Hall sank a pair of free throws with 2:15 to play, making it 69-65.
But Jared McCain made a steal after a bad pass from Schieffelin to race the length of the floor to cut the lead to 69-67 with 1:25 left.
After Mark Mitchell made a steal on Schieffelin’s third straight turnover, Kyle Filipowski went straight to the basket, sank a shot, and drew a foul to put Duke ahead 70-69 with 15.2 to play.
Hall drew a foul from Filipowski with 7.4 left on the ensuing possession, marking the first time the 7-foot center had fouled out all season. Hall hit two free throws to put Clemson back ahead, 71-70.
After Proctor sank both baskets following the foul call on Beadle, Clemson still had enough time to get off a full-court heave.
When Hall and Mitchell collided near the basket following the inbound pass, Brownell pleaded for a review after the buzzer sounded but to no avail. Afterwards, Brownell and an assistant coach could be seen by ESPN cameras trying to restrain senior Joe Girard from confronting the officials as they walked off the court.
Chalk it up to the type of Cameron craziness that opposing teams and fans have come to both expect and fear over the years.
“I’m really proud of our players. Obviously we had a couple of whistles down the stretch that’s just perplexing is all I can say. It’s really frustrating,” Brownell said.
McCain led Duke with 21 points and Proctor finished with 18. Mitchell added 13.
Clemson got 19 points from Hall and 13 from Girard. Chase Hunter added 11, and the Tigers’ reserves — Clark, Beadle, RJ Godfrey and Dillon Hunter — had a second straight impressive showing with a combined 20 points off the bench.
Clemson will host Louisville (6-14 overall, 1-8 ACC) Tuesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.