No.1 Blue Devils Win 17th Straight Over Tigers |
DURHAM, N.C. - Even on an off night No. 1 Duke was far too strong for Clemson.
The Blue Devils (20-1, 9-0 ACC) rode a 14-0 run that spanned the end of the first half and beginning of the second Sunday night, blowing open a close game and rolling to an 81-55 victory over the Tigers (9-11, 2-7) at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke has now won 17 straight games over Clemson, the last 13 by double digit margins. J.J. Reddick led the winners with 23 points, while Luol Deng added 22. They were the only Blue Devils to reach double figures, however, on a night that Mike Krzyzewski's team seemed to still be recovering from its overtime win at North Carolina two nights earlier. Still, Duke had enough in the tank to hold off Clemson who, despite another strong outing from Shawan Robinson, couldn't muster enough offense to stay in the game down the stretch. Robinson finished with 18 points, but scored all but four of them in the first 20 minutes of play. Sharrod Ford led the Tigers with 19 points. "He (Robinson) obviously shot the ball well, but defensively I didn't think he gave us what he needed to give us," said Purnell. "And he knows that. He can play better. At that point guard position we got to have his A game on both sides of the ball, particularly with rebounding and some of those things." Starters Chey Christie, Chris Hobbs and Olu Babalola combined for just five points on the night. The Blue Devils led 36-27 at the half, despite a stellar defensive effort by the Tigers. Clemson battled Duke to a standstill until J.J. Reddick's 3-pointer from the top of the key snapped a 27-27 tie with 1:20 left before the break. Sheldon Williams converted a traditional three-point play with :18 left to push the lead to six points. Lee Melchionni closed out the 9-0 run with a 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired. Until that run the Tigers had outplayed Duke in most aspects of the game, despite committing 13 first-half turnovers. In fact, the half turned into an offensive showdown between Robinson and Deng, who scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, before the break. Duke scored the first five points of the second half to push the run to 14-0, before Robinson momentarily stopped the momentum with a short jumper in the lane. "They get a little bit of at the end of the first half, and they get a little bit of a run at the beginning of the second half," said Purnell. "That was critical. The combination of our inability to keep them off the offensive glass and not playing well on both sides of the half really cost us." But moments later Purnell, incensed over a pair of calls that went against his team, was slapped with a technical foul. Reddick hit both free throws to push the lead to 15, and Clemson never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
VISITORS: Clemson 9-11, 2-7 ACC
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