Duke 74, Clemson 53 (3:26): Duke wins in what ultimately turned into a rout in the second half. Stay tuned for updates from the locker room. Don't forget that these two teams will face each other again Jan. 23 in South Carolina.
Duke 70, Clemson 53 (1:24): The Cameron Crazies are urging the Clemson faithful to "start your tractors" and head back to their rural South Carolina campus. Smith and Scheyer just drained back to back threes. Demontez Stitt answered on the other end with a trey of his own, but it looks like Duke will move to 1-0 in conference play.
Duke 64, Clemson 49 (3:26): It's been a physical, defense-oriented struggle, but Duke's "big three" of Smith, Scheyer, and Singler have carried the Blue Devils tonight in their first ACC game of the season. Duke looks well on its way to redeeming itself after last season's embarrassing loss to the Tigers, although Coach K is urging the Cameron Crazies to keep up their energy as the game winds down.
Duke 61, Clemson 44 (5:24): Brian Zoubek has fouled out of this game. Smith dropped two more to give him 18 points. Smith, Scheyer and Singler have carried the Blue Devils offensively tonight. They have 18, 15 and 14 points respectively.
Duke 59, Clemson 44 (6:12): The Blue Devils continue with their stellar defensive effort. Clemson can't get a shot off until the shot clock runs all the way down to three. Then Nolan Smith steals the ball and flushes it uncontested on the other end. Smith now has 16 points, making him Duke's leading scorer on the night.
Duke 55, Clemson 42 (7:54): Guard Demontez Stitt has been Clemson's biggest threat tonight, and he has 14 points after making a nice runner in the lane and getting fouled on the play. Duke's defense has done an excellent job on the Tigers' leading scorer Trevor Booker however, holding him to just seven points on three for eight shooting.
Duke 44, Clemson 30 (11:56): Scheyer has committed five turnovers this game, which is remarkable considering how well he has handled the ball as Duke's point guard so far this season. His assist-to-turnover ratio coming into this game was 5.5 to one. The pressure of ACC competition is apparent tonight in the energy of the crowd, and freshman star Andre Dawkins looks a bit shell-shocked. He hasn't scored tonight and was just removed from the game by Coach K after losing the ball on two straight offensive possessions.
Duke 42, Clemson 25 (13:52): Huge sequence for Duke begins with a Mason Plumlee layup and ends with a Jon Scheyer steal and swished three. Coach K jumped up off the Duke bench pumping his fist to celebrate the 5-point swing. The Cameron Crazies behind me are about as fired up as they've been all game.
Duke 35, Clemson 25 (15:54): Scheyer drains his first three of the night, giving him eight points. Zoubek appeared to have blocked a shot on the ensuing Tiger possession, but goaltending was called on the play giving Clemson the basket. Coach K was outraged by the call and now Chris Collins appears to be making Duke's case to the officials on his behalf as the team huddles.
Duke 30, Clemson 22 (17:24): Trevor Booker hits a layup over Lance Thomas and gets fouled. The basket caps a 10-0 run for Clemson to start the half and the Tigers bench exploded after the play. Duke's leading scorer Jon Scheyer has gone absolutely ice cold in the first ACC contest of the year. He's one for six from the field after missing an open three from the left wing early in this half. The crowd is urging on the Blue Devils as Booker converts on the "and one."
Duke 30, Clemson 12 (HALFTIME): Television viewers stuck watching Wake Forest's double overtime win against Xavier have missed a low scoring first half here in Durham. Duke is pumped up about the way it's been playing on defense and the Blue Devils have stifled the Tigers, especially down low. Clemson only managed to score a measly twelve points in 20 minutes of play. Andy Moore has pointed out that Clemson made only 5 of its 30 field goal attempts this half. That means it's shooting just 16.7 percent from the floor. After waking up late in the half, Kyle Singler is Duke's leading scorer with nine points. Duke is shooting a comparatively excellent 39.1 percent on its field goal tries. After a slow start offensively, the Blue Devils have got to be pleased with the way they have played so far.
Duke 22, Clemson 10 (2:48): Kyle Singler has started to make his presence felt and the crowd here in Cameron is fired up about it. A pretty significant number of students have made the trip to Durham during their Winter Break, giving Cameron its usual energetic feel. Singler took a charge and blocked a shot on consecutive defensive possessions. Then he hit a three from the left wing on the other end to give Duke its largest lead of the night. Nolan Smith goes to the line now to shoot one and one.
Duke 16, Clemson 10 (7:41): Clemson has staged a mini-run here by finally getting some points on the board, but neither team can find a way to score consistently. Starting big man Miles Plumlee has provided a spark for the Blue Devils. And one positive note to take away for Duke fans is that their team now has plenty of size to contend with the Tigers down low. Trevor Booker killed Duke last year in a 74-47 blowout at Littlejohn, but Duke's interior defense has looked stout against its first ACC opponent this season. The Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek have all seen plenty of action so far.
Duke 12, Clemson 4 (11:19): Ok, Lance Thomas definitely has a new tattoo shaped like his home state of New Jersey. It even appears that the state capital, Trenton, is marked with a large star. Meanwhile, Thomas is pumped up about his play on both ends of the court. He finished a layup over Trevor Booker to put the Blue Devils up by eight. Jerai Grant goes to the line to shoot two now, hoping to give the Tigers their first points since the early minutes of the game.
Duke 10, Clemson 4 (14:20): Nolan Smith drained Duke's first three of the game to put the Blue Devils up by six. Duke went with its usual starting five of Scheyer, Smith, Thomas and Miles Plumlee. My co-writer Andy Moore has pointed out that Lance Thomas appears to have a new tattoo shaped like the state of New Jersey. We will try to get confirmation on that later.
Duke 7, Clemson 4 (15:56): Miles Plumlee converts on a layup and gets fouled. He makes the free throw to give Duke its first lead of the game. Lance Thomas scores down low to add to Duke's lead.
PREGAME: Just a few minutes to go before tip-off. Chronicle sports writer Taylor Doherty has given us three things to watch for tonight. Duke is looking to make up for an embarrassing 74-47 loss to the Tigers in February of last year. Stay tuned as we live blog the first ACC matchup between ranked teams this season from Cameron.
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