Duke holds off Clemson late
Duke held off Clemson in the final moments to move into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke moved back into a tie for first place in the ACC standings Tuesday with a 71-69 win over Clemson.
As the score might indicate, the Blue Devils ability to move into a tie for the top spot was very much in questions for a big portion of the night.
The game, which proved to be much closer than most prognosticators expected, went down to the wire with the Blue Devils holding off a motivated Clemson squad in the final seconds. Clemson put significant pressure on Duke in the final eight-plus minutes of the game, erasing a seven point Blue Devil lead and eventually jumping ahead 61-60 with 6:11 to go in the game.
The Tigers’ lead lasted for just over a minute and a half before Jeremy Roach connected on a 3-pointer giving the Blue Devils the advantage yet again. But, the Tigers weren’t ready to go away. They scored four unanswered points to regain the lead.
Momentum appeared to be quickly shifting in Clemson’s direction with the visitors holding 65-63 lead and only 3:19 remaining in the game.
But, Duke was not ready to simply hand over the edge to Clemson. Thanks to another big shot from Roach, a two-point jumper to tie the game up, the Blue Devils seemingly had a new bounce to their steps.
Less than one minute after Roach evened the score up at 65, Joey Baker, who scored 11 points in just 18 minutes of action, made a strong move to the middle of the lane and finished in traffic to give Duke the lead for good. Paolo Banchero scored Duke’s final four points, ultimately giving Duke the win.
Neither team was ever able to create much separation on the scoreboard, as Duke’s largest lead on the night reached just seven points, four under the 11 Mike Krzyzewski’s team was favored by coming in.
Clemson managed its largest lead of five points in the first half, but kept pressure on Duke all night long.
Duke’s defense was not nearly up to the level it was against Syracuse, but turnovers aside, the offense was decent — not great — for several stretches and managed to keep Clemson at bay. Duke connected on 6-of-10 from long range in the first half with Baker connecting on three of his four attempts.
Turnovers were an issue, though, as Duke handed the ball over nine times in the first half. Clemson converted those into 12 critical points. The Blue Devils did clean that up in the second half, however, turning it over just three times for four Clemson points.
That statistic was a huge difference maker for the Blue Devils in the final 20 minutes of action. So, too, was Banchero’s ability to stay on the floor after he picked up two fouls early in the first half and played just nine minutes.
Though Baker stepped up and provided big first half points, Banchero’s presence was missed. AJ Griffin struggled again from the field, as did Roach. Wendell Moore Jr. was not getting too many opportunities and Mark Williams attempted just one shot in the first half.
All in all, nothing was really falling into place for Duke in the first 20 minutes.
The second half provided some different storylines.
Banchero played all 20 minutes and was a difference maker, scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 from the field while also grabbing five rebonds and handing out three assists. He concluded the night with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
He scored seven of his 14 second half points in the first 3:22 of the half, helping Duke jump to to a six point lead. At that point, the Blue Devils seemed to be grabbing momentum, though it was only short lived.
While Banchero’s presence in the second half was critical for Duke, explosive stretches from Moore and Roach were also key for the Blue Devils. Moore scored eight points in the second half, with all of those coming between the 15:22 and 13:48 marks. The stretch consisted of two 3-pointers and two free throws.
Duke reached its largest lead of seven points during Moore’s awakening.
Roach was perhaps the most important player for Duke in the final five minutes, though. The sophomore has been extraordinary with the basketball over the last five games. In the four before tonight, Roach has posted 20 assists and just two turnovers. After this game, he’s pushed that assist total to 29 ( a career-high tying nine tonight) and his turnover tally to just three (one tonight) in the last five games.
His ability to settle the Blue Devils when they needed it most — the final five minutes — might have been the single deciding factor in the outcome.
In the final 4:40, Roach scored five of his eight points, while handing out one assist — ultimately the game winner to Banchero — and one important defensive rebound that led to a big shot from Baker to give Duke it’s final lead of the night.
His poise and ability to put Duke in the correct positions in critical moments could very well be the reason Duke walked away with the victory.
All in all, it was not the prettiest of games from Duke, but individuals made big plays when the team needed them the most and managed to scrap for the victory with Trevor Keels sitting out due to injury for a second consecutive contest.
We have got to stop turning it over at this rate. Credit clemson for taking advantage of the turnovers we handed them. Most I feel were unforced.