Duke Overcomes Tough Clemson Effort |
DURHAM, N.C. - Opening your conference season against the No. 1 team in the country - on the road, no less - is a daunting task.
When that road facility goes by the name of Cameron Indoor Stadium and sits on the campus of Duke University, and the game is on national television, the degree of difficulty is raised a notch or three to say the least. Such was the atmosphere Larry Shyatt's young Tigers walked into Sunday night and, predictably, found themselves on the short end of a 96-80 score when all was said and done. Carlos Boozer, one of six Blue Devils in double figures, scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to help Duke pull away. The Blue Devils (6-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened the half with a 20-7 run and held the Tigers without a field goal for almost seven minutes during that span Duke led by as many as 23 before a late Clemson (5-2, 0-1) run got it to 92-80 with just over two minutes to play. "I thought for about a 10 minute stretch to open the second half we played good defense," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "We played hard. It's amazing what happens when you play hard." Still, if it's fair to compare such things, Sunday's performance was encouraging if you take into account that a year ago at Cameron the Tigers trailed by as many as 30 points in the first half and ultimately lost 115-74. This time, given several opportunities to fold, Clemson chose instead to fight back. Chris Hobbs (25 points) and Chey Christie (21) provided the Tigers with a nice inside-outside combination, and the Tigers Clemson again proved dominant on the boards. The Tigers out-rebounded Duke 42-29, including 16-7 on the offensive end. But Clemson also shot just 37.5 percent (12-of-32) in the second half, many of the misses coming in the paint on second-chance opportunities. "When you get those shots and you're not scoring or getting to the foul line, it's tough to win," Shyatt said. "We battled hard, and for a long stretch I thought we dominated the game as far as aggressiveness. But in the end (Duke) had just too much talent." Duke never was able to put together one of its patented runs that simultaneously whips the Cameron Crazies into a frenzy and runs the opponent out of the gym. Instead, Clemson withstood every haymaker the Blue Devils threw, and forced Mike Krzyzewski's team to work for its double-digit victory. There would be no early exit for the starters. All that, if nothing else, would appear to give Shyatt's team something on which to build. Despite the loss, the general feeling seemed to be light years away from what happened here a year ago. "It couldn't be experience. We have very little, if any, experience," Shyatt said when asked the difference between this year's and last year's team. "I guess I would go with aggressiveness, and we've raised our level of talent on the floor. Those would be the first two reactions I have." NOTES - Duke outscored Clemson in two critical areas: points in the paint (40-26) and off turnovers (32-13). The Blue Devils also had 10 fastbreak points to Clemson's zero...The Blue Devils have won 60 of its last 65 ACC regular season games, and 97 of 98 against unranked opponents...Clemson's Jamar McKnight saw one minute of action in the second half, his first since missing two games with a sprained knee. BOX SCORE
Clemson (5-2) 41 39 80
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