Demon Slayers: Clemson Shocks #2 Duke 77-71

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

With Flagg heating up and the Clemson offense starting to run through Hunter, the stage was set for what seemed like a 1-on-1 showdown in the last 2 minutes of the game. Cooper Flagg drew first blood by hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with Lahkin in his face to tie the game 67-67. After a Dillon Hunter 3-pointer (perfectly set up by older brother Chase) and some free throws boosted Clemson to a 2-point lead, Flagg hit another 3-pointer from almost the same spot after a miscommunication on a switch from Ian Schieffelin that gave Duke a 71-70 lead with just 59 seconds remaining. Hunter immediately answered by knifing to the basket from his left and hitting a layup followed by hitting 2 free throws on the next possession to put the Tigers up by a score of 73-71, and with 20 seconds left and the game on the line, we all knew where the ball was going. Cooper Flagg took the ball from the top of the key and drove to the baseline, but his foot gave out from under him and he slipped to the ground and he was called for a travel to give the ball back to the Tigers. The Tigers got the ball to Chase Hunter who made his free throws to ice the game. As the clock struck 0 and the Littlejohn faithful stormed onto the court, the Tigers claimed victory by a final score of 77-71.

Lakhin led the way for the Tigers with 22 points and 3 blocked shots. Clemson double figure scorers were rounded out by Schieffelin (12), Chase Hunter with 14 and Jaeden Zackery with 12 of his own. Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils with 23 points. Flagg finished with 18 and Knueppel would round out the double figure scorers with 14. The victory ended a 16-game win streak by the Blue Devils and got the Tigers back on track after a triple overtime heartbreaker on the same court earlier this week against Georgia Tech snapped a 6 -game winning streak of their own.

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images

The tale of the victory can be seen in the stats. Clemson shot 30-of-51 from the field on the evening and at 58.8% they are the first team to shoot higher than 50% from the field against Duke this season. Clemson also outrebound the Blue Devils by a total of 36 to 23, a difference that more than doubles Duke’s largest rebounding deficit of the season, which was previous 6. Clemson won the 2^nd chance points battle 15-5 and scored 40 points in the paint on the evening. Clemson’s halftime adjustment centered around taking care of the ball as in the first half, Clemson turned the ball over 10 times leading to 18 Duke points. Clemson would turn the ball over only twice in the 2nd half.

The Tigers will have a quick turnaround as they host North Carolina on Monday night at 7:00pm. Be sure to check back in to Shakin the Southland for more Clemson Basketball coverage.