'A Truly Special Night' – Clemson Takes Down #2 Duke in Historic Upset

While Duke entered the game off a lopsided road win at Syracuse , Clemson came in to the second of three home games having lost to Georgia Tech in triple-OT on Tuesday. Clemson’s Chase Hunter spoke postgame after the loss and acknowledged that, with the massive game against Duke looming, the team needed to “just flush it.”

Clemson and Duke Put on a Terrific Show

Duke was off to a terrific start mostly due to Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor. Knueppel had 11 points in the first half, including 3 made three-pointers and a nice dime to Maliq Brown. Meanwhile, Proctor had 16 in the opening period and 23 overall to lead Duke in scoring. Proctor was 4-8 from beyond the arc and made several huge shots in big moments. It was a truly impressive display from the junior.

Clemson was down double-digits for some portion of the first half, but seemed to always find timely buckets when they needed to. Oftentimes it was senior center and fan-favorite Ian Schieffelin, who at times had his way with Duke’s Maliq Brown. Schieffelin had 12 points and 10 rebounds in a big performance. Although the Tigers shot 68% in the first half, they were still down 6 at the half.

Clemson really gave the vaunted Duke defense problems down, mainly through Schieffelin and Viktor Lahkin. A transfer from Cincinnati, Lahkin had 22 points on 9-12 from the floor, leading the way for Clemson and showing great emotion after some big plays.

Leading scorer Chase Hunter did his part as well. During the 12-0 second-half run that gave Clemson the lead, Hunter scored a great driving layup past Cooper Flagg and then found his brother Dillon on a flare screen for a three-pointer. The Tigers were up 56-49 following the big run.

Cooper Flagg is Grabbing Headlines for his Polarizing Performance

It was a polarizing night for Flagg. Although he was just 4-13 from the field with less than two minutes to play, Flagg stepped up in a big way. As Vitale called for Duke to let Flagg take over, the freshman hit a massive three-pointer to tie the game at 67. After a miss, Flagg eventually got an offensive rebound and got to the free throw line, where he made 1-2. The next possession, Flagg hit another contested three, giving Duke a 71-70 lead with under a minute to play.

However, many of the headlines about Flagg are not praising his competitive stamina, his big-time shot making down the stretch, or the maturity he showed in a tough road environment. Instead, the headlines are about his turnover with 14 seconds to play. As he drove right, Flagg slipped on the court, which resulted in a travel. The unfortunate play happened with Duke down 2 points and all but sealed the game, as Hunter made two free throws to follow and Duke did not score again.

Postgame Thoughts

Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer was proud of his team’s fight but felt that the defense and hustle plays let them down. Duke allowed their opponent to shoot almost 59% from the field while also being outrebounded 36-23.

Head coach Brad Brownell said that in the second half, his team “played about as well as we can play.” Brownell praised the execution of the players, who made the plays that you need to make in order to upset a team like Duke. He also praised the fans for bringing an incredible atmosphere. Clemson has now won each of their last five games against Top-5 opponents while unranked, the longest streak in college basketball.