Clemson surges past Duke men's basketball in second half to deal Blue Devils first ACC loss

GREENVILLE, S.C.—After hitting six 3-pointers through the first 13 minutes of the game and jumping out to a 12-point lead, the Blue Devils appeared to be on their way to another easy victory.

Not so fast.

Junior Matt Jones’ potential game-tying 3-pointer fell well short of the basket and Clemson put the game away from the free-throw line, taking down No. 9 Duke 68-63 Wednesday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. After averaging 20 made free-throw attempts per game entering the contest, the Blue Devils failed to connect from the charity stripe until nearly six minutes remained in the game, and foul trouble on the other end put Duke at a disadvantage defensively with its limited depth.

“We let our foot off the pedal as a whole,” forward Brandon Ingram said. “We didn’t execute well and in the second half we had a chance to win, a chance to tie at the line and just didn’t knock it down. We just have to get back and play better.”

Duke (14-3, 3-1 in the ACC) finished just 2-of-7 from the line on a night when the team’s shaky depth and inexperience was exposed. Ingram picked up his third foul with just 1.6 seconds remaining in the first half, forcing Duke to play cautiously for the final 20 minutes, including implementing varying zone looks. Clemson (11-6, 4-1) capitalized by spreading Duke out and finding open shooters along the perimeter. Ingram finished with just one point in the second-half after leading the team with 15 at the half.

Staked to a two-point halftime lead, the Blue Devils’ small lineup had more trouble pulling away early in the second half with Tigers center Landry Nnoko taking advantage and grabbing five offensive rebounds. With Ingram relegated to the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 13:21 to go and graduate student Marshall Plumlee picking up his fourth just three minutes later, Duke’s grasp on the game began to slip after a driving 3-point play by Donte Grantham that cut the lead to 48-47.

“We could’ve made a lot smarter plays,” Allen said. “A lot of the mistakes we made out there were young mistakes. That’s no excuse for us. We know the right play to make and we’ll see what we did and get better at it.”

The foul on Grantham’s lay-in was the fifth on freshman Chase Jeter, who had come in to attempt to hold down the frontcourt as Duke tried to skate by without its starting big men. But Jeter was whistled for two fouls in 30 seconds, disqualifying with no points and one rebound in four minutes.

The Blue Devils then brought Ingram and Plumlee back into the game, but to no avail. With Duke forced to play zone due to foul trouble, Grantham and leading scorer Jaron Blossomgame connected on back-to-back triples to give Clemson a 53-50 lead—its first since the opening minutes of the game. After trading baskets, Tiger guard Jordan Roper hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, followed by a transition basket by Roper on the next possession to stretch Clemson’s lead to 62-55 with just 2:52 remaining.

“There’s only so much lead in your pencil,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That’s the game. You have to be really smart. It’s tough for a young team to be really smart…especially when you’re tired and you get into foul trouble. It’s difficult.”

The Tigers scored the first five points of the game, but the Blue Devils responded with a burst reminiscent of their hot start against Virginia Tech Saturday. Jones, Derryck Thornton, Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard all hit threes during a 16-4 run that put Duke firmly in control of the game.

But plagued by seven first-half turnovers and missed jumpers after the hot start, the Blue Devils lead began to dwindle. Having relied on the triple so much this season, Duke appeared to settle on multiple occasions and failed to attempt a free-throw in the entire first half. Clemson entered the game as one of the nation’s least foul-prone teams, and avoided putting the Blue Devils on the line Wednesday to stay close.

With Grantham getting hot for the Tigers, the home team cut the lead to two at the half despite a poor shooting performance from Blossomgame in the opening 20 minutes.

“One of the things is that we don’t have as much of a chance to build on good,” Krzyzewski said. “Because they’re good, you’re exerting a lot of effort. So if you get an eight-, 10-point lead, you’re tired. And you still have to play through that. And then they came back. We don’t have any alternatives.... We have to fight through it.”

Duke came up with a game-saving play just two possessions later as a block by Plumlee led to a fast break ending with a transition triple for Allen to cut the lead to a single possession. Just two possessions later, Kennard made another big defensive play, coming away with a steal that led to layup for Jones plus a foul. But the 75 percent foul-shooter missed the ensuing shot from the line that could’ve tied the game.

After the teams traded buckets, the aggressive Blue Devil defense was beaten by a cutting Blossomgame, who slammed home a pass from Roper to take a three-point lead with just 13.3 ticks remaining. Jones’ potential game-tying attempt on the ensuing Blue Devil possession was not close.

“The defense before that play is the main thing,” Krzyzewski said. “You have to get a stop. And then they’re going to match up with our 3-point shooters. I would have rather had the ball come to other side and have Luke or Grayson take it.”

Duke is back in action Saturday afternoon against Notre Dame at Cameron Indoor Stadium.