No. 1 Duke Holds Off Tigers

---

CLEMSON - Any thought that Larry Shyatt had lost control of his Clemson

Tigers was dispelled Saturday night, despite a 98-88 loss to No. 1 Duke.

One game after saying internal problems were to blame for his team's

lackluster performance in an 18-point loss to North Carolina, the Tigers took

every haymaker the Blue Devils (20-1, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) threw

and kept the outcome in doubt until the game's final minutes.

Clemson (11-11, 2-7) rode the hot hand of Tony Stockman to fight back from an

11-point halftime deficit. Stockman hit three 3-pointers from the top of the

key to spark a 19-6 run midway throught the half. When Tomas Nagys scored

inside to complete the run, the Tigers had a 66-65 lead with 11:23 to go.

Duke immediately reclaimed the lead on a Jason Williams layup at 11:05, and

the Blue Devils maintained control from there. It wasn't easy, though, as

Clemson refused to roll over. When Hobbs hit a pair of free throws at 5:24,

the Tigers trailed just 77-76 and Littlejohn Coliseum was rocking.

But Duke responded with a 13-2 run over the next 3:36 to push the lead back

to 12, 90-78, with 1:41 to go.

Clemson never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Duke used a familiar weapon to take control of the first half, blitzing

Clemson with a barrage of 3-pointers to lead by as many as 15.

At one point the Blue Devils dropped in five consecutive 3s (Williams three,

Dunleavy and Ewing one each) during a 26-13 run that turned an 18-18 tie into

a 46-31 lead with 2:32 left in the half. Most of the damage came in

transition, with Williams or Dunleavy floating to the wing on the fast break,

taking a kickout pass and knocking down the open shots.

Duke was 9-of-20 from behind the arc in the half. Williams was 4-of-9.

The Tigers ultimately pulled within 50-39 by halftime, thanks to a four-point

burst in the final 1.2 seconds of the half. Hobbs rebounded a Sharrod Ford

miss - Ford was attempting to convert a three-point play - and scored just

ahead of the buzzer to bring Clemson within 11.

BOX SCORE

FINAL                    	1st	2nd	Total


(1) Duke (20-1; ACC: 8-1)	 50 	 48 	98


Clemson (11-11; ACC: 2-7)	 39 	 49 	88


	


Duke


PLAYER         	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS


D. Jones        32	5-11	5-6	3	4	1	2	16


M. Dunleavy     38	8-14	4-5	1	7	3	4	22


C. Boozer       29	3-8	6-8	4	6	0	3	12


J. Williams     39	9-19	5-6	0	6	7	2	28


C. Duhon        38	4-7	5-6	0	4	6	3	15


N. Horvath      6	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	1	0


D. Ewing        11	1-2	2-2	0	1	0	1	5


C. Sanders      7	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	4	0


Totals   	200	30-61	27-33	8	30	17	20	98


                  	.492	.818	 


TEAM REBS: 5


TURNOVERS: 14 (Duhon 5, Boozer 3, Sanders 2, Williams 2, Dunleavy, Jones)


BLOCKED SHOTS: 3 (Sanders 2, Dunleavy)


STEALS: 11 (Dunleavy 3, Williams 3, Duhon 2, Ewing 2, Boozer)


3-PT FGS: 11-28, .393 (Jones 1-3, Dunleavy 2-5, Williams 5-14, Duhon 2-5, Ewing 1-1)


Clemson


PLAYER      	MIN	FGM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	PF	PTS


C. Hobbs        26	3-5	6-6	3	8	0	5	12


J. McKnight     29	4-10	2-2	1	5	1	2	11


R. Henderson    20	3-7	3-3	2	5	0	5	9


E. Scott        40	10-18	0-1	0	5	8	3	20


T. Stockman     31	7-15	1-2	0	3	2	2	20


T. Nagys        15	2-3	0-0	1	5	1	4	4


S. Ford         18	4-6	2-3	2	3	0	3	10


C. Christie     13	1-5	0-0	1	2	3	0	2


D. Clifton      8	0-1	0-0	2	2	0	0	0


Totals   	200	34-70	14-17	12	38	15	24	88


                	.486	.824	 


TEAM REBS: 1


TURNOVERS: 20 (Mcknight 5, Christie 4, Stockman 4, Scott 3, Hobbs 2, 


R Henderson 2)


BLOCKED SHOTS: 2 (Ford, Christie)


STEALS: 8 (Scott 3, Christie 2, Mcknight, R Henderson, Stockman)


3-PT FGS: 6-17, .353 (Mcknight 1-3, Scott 0-2, Stockman 5-11, Christie 0-1)


Technicals: None


Attendance: 11,000  

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