Duke and Clemson welcomed Dick Vitale back to college basketball and he made it to the first timeout before he broke down and cried, saying that getting back was “my Super Bowl.” Characteristically, he urged all cancer patients to fight and never give up.
The game exceeded the drama in the booth as Clemson upset Duke, 77-71.
Duke started out hot, shooting 9-12/3-4 and running out to a 23-14 lead.
Clemson fought hard in the first half and tried to rough up Cooper Flagg – nothing ugly, just typical Clemson defense – but Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel stepped up with 16 and 11 points respectively.
Clemson is a tough team though, as we expected, and the Tigers fought back, at one point cutting the lead to 32-30 before Sion James took the ball in more or less coast-to-coast for a layup to pad the lead a bit.
The funny thing about the first half is that while both teams shot extremely well – Duke hit 57.7/60 percent and Clemson managed 68.2 overall though just 25 percent from deep – they both played good defense. In fact, Duke forced 10 turnovers and gave up six themselves.
But while Victor Lahkin shot 4-4 for eight points, the perimeter – Jaeden Zackery and the Hunter brothers, Chase and Dillon – combined for 13. Proctor outscored them by himself in the first stanza.
Notable too – former Blue Devil Christian Reeves had five points at halftime, far more than his average of 1.1, with three coming from the foul line.
Freshman Del Jones also played well with five points and two assists.
The Tigers did a solid job on Flagg, who had just four points and no rebounds before halftime. However, he did have two steals, including one for a breakaway dunk with :38 left to give Duke the halftime lead of 41-35.
One small note: Kon Knueppel usually leads the team in floor dives and he had another one in Littlejohn (though he got called for a flagrant one on that play). However, it was really nice to see Isaiah Evans go hard for a loose ball too.
Early in the second, Lahkin scored four straight points to make it 43-40 before Proctor got a dunk off a nifty Brown pass. Then Lakhin hit another basket after that to make it 45-42.
Lakhin hit one more but Knueppel hit a three to put Duke up 49-44.
Knueppel got in a scrum and forced an alternate possession which went to the Tigers and Ian Schieffelin tied the game on a three with about three seconds on the shot clock and then Chase Hunter drove for a layup to give Clemson its first lead, 51-49. It was a momentum play and the Tigers took advantage.
At this point, Flagg was just 2-10 as Clemson’s very physical defense took a toll and the Tigers had outscored Duke 16-8 in the second half.
James missed a dunk before Zackery hit a three put Clemson up 54-49.
Then Schieffelin missed inside but scored on the rebound to put the Tigers up 56-49, leading to a Duke timeout.
After the timeout, Isaiah Evans got off a decent three, but his foot was on the line.
Lakhin got loose for an wide open shot but missed it and Evans got his three on the other side of the court to cut it to 56-52.
Both defenses tightened up after that with no field goals made after Evans’ three at the 8:47 mark until Schieffelin got a dunk off a Lakhin pass with 6:26 to play to put the Tigers up 59-54.
Duke went to a zone with about 6:00 or so left and down 59-56 and the next trip downcourt, Flagg tied the game on a three.
Lakhin hit a shot in the lane over Maluach to give the Tigers a 61-59 lead before Proctor hit a clutch three with time running out and Lahkin all over him to give the Blue Devils the lead back at 62-61.
Chase Hunter came back after the timeout to hit a clutch shot of his own to put the Tigers up by one but Flagg came back and returned the favor, giving Duke the lead briefly before Zackery hit a great shot over Maluach in the lane to put Clemson up 65-64.
Lakhin hit a pair of free throw to put Clemons up 67-64.
Flagg hit a big three to tie it back up then Hunter hit another on his end to put Clemson back up 70-67.
Flagg was fouled on the next play but started to cramp up with 1:16 left. He hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 70-68 and Maluach fouled out on the rebound.
He overcame the cramping to hit a big three with 58.9 left to put Duke up 71-70 and the Tigers called a timeout with 51.9 left.
Hunter drove and scored to put Clemson back up 72-71. James drove on the following play and was blocked from behind by Lakhin who was fouled in the scramble after with 21.5 left.
He missed the first and hit the second, giving Clemson a 73-71 lead.
Flagg had the ball on the following play but slipped on a wet spot with 14.7 left. Dillon Hunter was fouled and hit both with 14.1 left.
On the following play, the elder Hunter blocked Proctor on a drive and that was just about that.
Congratulations to Clemson for a tremendous win.
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