Kennard, No. 18 Duke hold on to beat Clemson

No. 18 Duke spent so much energy beating its fiercest rival that it had almost none left for Clemson.

The Blue Devils rode Luke Kennard’s scoring and Matt Jones’ defense to yet another home victory over the Tigers.

Kennard scored 25 points and the Blue Devils held on to beat Clemson 64-62 on Saturday.

Playing less than 48 hours after an emotion-draining victory over No. 8 North Carolina on Thursday night, the exhausted Blue Devils (20-5, 8-4 ACC) blew a 14-point lead in the second half and needed a stop at the buzzer to seal their fifth straight victory.

“We had to beat human nature today,” Jones said.

Shelton Mitchell had a career-high 23 points and Elijah Thomas finished with 15 for the Tigers (13-11, 3-9), who have lost three straight and were denied their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.

The Tigers had a chance to win it or send it to overtime after Thomas rebounded Frank Jackson’s missed 3-pointer in the final seconds. Kennard deflected a pass out of bounds near midcourt with 4.3 seconds left to set up Clemson’s final inbounds play.

Donte Grantham inbounded the ball in the backcourt to Mitchell, who dribbled toward the right wing but couldn’t get a clean look against Jones before the buzzer sounded.

The Tigers were trying to join North Carolina State as teams earning their first victory at Cameron since ‘95 – and just the fifth win here in their history – and certainly put themselves in position for it, after catching the Blue Devils on short rest. But they wound up with two losses this week by a total of three points , and six of their defeats in ACC play have come by five or fewer points.

“Unfortunately,” coach Brad Brownell said, “a little bit more of the same for us.”

For about 9 1/2 minutes in the second half, Kennard was the only Duke player who could score. He reeled off 15 consecutive points for his team and finished with 20 in the second half while reaching the 20-point mark for the third time during the winning streak.

Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame couldn’t get started. He averages 17.8 points but was held to a season-low seven on 3-of-12 shooting with Jones – Duke’s most dependable defensive player – guarding him.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Kennard, No. 18 Duke hold on to beat Clemson."