Tiger trifecta. Clemson completes Triangle sweep in win over No. 3 Duke.
Clemson’s solid shooting brought an end to No. 3 Duke’s nine-game winning streak on Tuesday night.
On a night when the Tigers shot 56.6 percent, Aamir Simms scored 25 points and Tevin Mack added 22 as Clemson upset the Blue Devils 79-72 in ACC basketball at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Duke (15-2, 5-1 ACC) shot 50 percent but turned the ball over 15 times in its first loss since Stephen F. Austin beat the Blue Devils 85-83 in overtime back on Nov. 26.
John Newman added 14 points for Clemson (9-7, 3-3 ACC).
Vernon Carey led Duke with 20 points, while Tre Jones scored 17 and Cassius Stanley 14.
Clemson hit 57.7 percent of its first-half shots (15 of 26), including 5 of 9 3-pointers, to lead 40-33 at halftime. Duke played sloppy at times, turning the ball over nine times while shooting just 46 percent. The Blue Devils missed seven layups over the first 20 minutes.
Trailing by seven points, the Blue Devils quickly cut the deficit to 42-40 by making their first three shots of the second half. Clemson scored the game’s next seven points, on layups by John Newman and Mack, who then hit a 3-pointer, to lead 49-40 with 16:46 to play.
But the Tigers went nearly five minutes without making a field goal, missing five consecutive shots. Jack White’s 3-pointer completed a 6-0 Duke run leaving Clemson up 49-46.
Mack’s lay-in with 11:58 left gave Clemson a 52-48 lead but that would be the Tigers lone made field goal over a stretch of 7:09.
Jones scored the game’s next five points, including a pull-up 3-pointer in transition that gave Duke its first lead of the second half -- 53-52 with 10:08 to play.
Simms drilled a 3-pointer with 7:56 to play tying the score at 59 and put the Tigers up for good 63-62 on a lay-in with 5:24 to play.
Mack’s step-back jumper with 4:47 to play gave Clemson a 65-62 lead. After White’s basket pulled Duke within a point, the Tigers scored the game’s next five points to pull away.
The Tigers won their past three games, all against Triangle teams. Clemson beat N.C. State at home, 81-70, on Jan. 4 before winning at UNC, 79-76, for the first time in 60 tries on Jan. 11.
AND-1
After failing to score 10 points in two of Duke’s previous three games, Carey looked and played like Duke’s top scorer again against Clemson. Three nights after scoring eight points while attempting just six shots in a 90-59 win over Wake Forest, Carey had 20 points and hit 8 of 14 shots against Clemson.
LANE VIOLATION
Duke trailed at halftime Tuesday night for the first time since its Dec. 6 game at Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils rallied to win that game 77-63. In the six games since, Duke led by double-digits at halftime in five of them before Clemson took a 40-33 lead to intermission.
ICYMI
Duke played without two reserve guards Tuesday night. Freshman Wendell Moore missed his third consecutive game since having surgery Jan. 6 to repair a broken fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand. Sophomore Joey Baker joined him on the bench in street clothes at Clemson after spraining his ankle in practice.
MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS
9: Duke’s winning streak entering Tuesday night’s game. That’s also the longest winning streak the Blue Devils put together last season, when they did it twice.
10: Duke made free throws on 20 attempts for a 50 percent average. The Blue Devils hit only 4 of 11 in the second half.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Tiger trifecta. Clemson completes Triangle sweep in win over No. 3 Duke.."