The game is the 146th in the series, which Duke leads 113-32, including 25-19 at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Blue Devils won the earlier meeting in Durham, 71-69, on Jan. 25. The Clemson Tigers are 12-11 and sit at 4-8 in the ACC, they are coming off of a 2 point loss to UNC at home and have lost 7 of their last 10 games including a 2 point loss to the Tar Heels Tuesday night. The Blue Devils try to rebound from a tough 1-point loss at home versus Virginia.
Clemson
The Clemson Tigers are 12-11 and sit at 4-8 in the ACC, they are coming off of a 2 point loss to UNC at home and have lost 7 of their last 10 games. Clemson has been without one of their leading scorers Hunter Tyson who is out indefinitely with a broken clavicle. The Tigers are the ACC’s third best three-point shooting team at .380 for the year, led by Al-Amir Dawes’ .409 percentage, which also ranks third in the league. The Tigers still boast 3 double figure scorers in PJ Hall, Al-Amir Dawes and David Collins. Hall, one of the most improved players in the ACC, is averaging a team high 15.3 points per game and 6 rebounds. Dawes checks ini at 11.2 points per game and is averaging 2.4 assists. Collins is the team leader in rebounds at 6.9 per game and is averaging 11 points. Nick Honor leads the Tigers in assists at 28 per game.
Duke
Duke leads the ACC in three-point percentage defense (.297; 26th nationally) and is second in field goal percentage defense (.403). Opponents are shooting just .276 from three since Jan. 1 — the second-best defense by any power conference team in that span.
Six-time ACC Freshman of the Week Paolo Banchero leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 17.2 per game and is averaging a double-double over the last five with 14.6 points and 10.0 rebounds. Banchero, the ACC’s lone representative on the late-season watch list for the Wooden Award, has nine 20-point efforts this season — seven coming against power conference opponents, six in ACC play — in addition to 21 points vs. Gonzaga.
Sophomore Mark Williams, a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, leads the ACC and is 10th nationally in blocks (3.13). Williams is 43-of-56 (.768) from the field and averaging 13.1 points and 8.0 rebounds over Duke’s last eight games. After missing three games with a lower leg injury, freshman Trevor Keels returned at Notre Dame and has scored in double figures in each of the last two — 11 at North Carolina and 12 vs. Virginia. Duke is 13-1 this season when Keels scores in double digits. Sophomore Jeremy Roach has a 5-to-1 assist/turnover ratio over the last eight. He is second in the ACC and 17th nationally this season (2.84).
Duke vs Clemson: Keys to the Game
In the first matchup the Blue Devils gave up 28 points in the paint while only scoring 22 themselves. The Blue Devils also turned the ball over 12 times resulting in 16 points for the Tigers. Duke also allowed the Tigers good looks from 3 to the tune of 42% from beyond the arc, by comparison the Tigers shot 40% overall for the game. The Blue Devils in order to win by just 2 points had to shoot 50% from 3 point range and 48% overall. They were also aided by a free throw disparity in their favor – the Blue Devils went 11-13 from the charity stripe while Clemson 0-1. Clemson also out rebounded the Blue Devils in their first matchup 39-31 – Duke gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the Tigers.
For the Blue Devils the recipe doesn’t change for a win. They cannot turn the ball over as noted in my Virginia write up when Duke turns the ball over 15 times or more in ACC play they lose. They are dangerously close to that in the last matchup with Clemson. Duke wins if they are the more physical team – that doesn’t mean they need to push anyone around, or jaw at them or foul hard, it simply means holding your ground, boxing out, being strong with the ball and against it. When the Blue Devils allow themselves to be pushed around the results have been L’s. Duke hasn’t lost to a more talented team and that always is a head scratcher because when this team plays with an urgency, verve and physicality that matches their talent there aren’t a lot of teams in the nation that can beat them. When they don’t they get beaten by teams who are grittier and hungrier. Hunger, in basketball, is the great equalizer. Tough lessons for a young team and Clemson, by contrast, is decidedly NOT young.
