No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Duke to be without key players for ACC showdown

No. 11 Clemson and No. 12 Duke will battle for sole possession of second place in the ACC in front of a soldout crowd at Littlejohn Coliseum Sunday afternoon.

Both teams will be without key players for the top 15 showdown, which will begin at 1 p.m.

Clemson starting point guard Shelton Mitchell is “doubtful” for the game, according to Tigers coach Brad Brownell. Mitchell suffered a blow to the head during the final seconds of Wednesday’s game at Florida State.

Duke star freshman Marvin Bagley is out for the game after he was injured Feb. 8 against North Carolina.

Bagley, who is averaging more than 21 points and 11 rebounds per game, missed each of the past two games with a knee injury.

“We’ll prepare like he’s playing but they don’t run a different offense when he’s in the game and things of that nature,” Brownell said of Bagley. “Your team is mostly who you are right now, and you’re what you believe, how you wanna coach, how you wanna play… Offensively they’ve got a package of things that they run that highlight their best players, and we try to do the same with ours.”

The Blue Devils have performed well without Bagley, defeating Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech in back-to-back contests by double digits.

The loss of Mitchell would be a tough one for a Clemson team that is already down star forward Donte Grantham, who is out for the year with a torn ACL.

Clemson will need freshmen guards Clyde Trapp and A.J. Oliver to step up if Mitchell is unable to play, as well as leading scorers Marcquise Reed (15.7 ppg) and Gabe DeVoe (13.4 ppg).

“Clyde’s a guy that’ll get a good bit (of playing time) but we’ll have the luxury of moving different guys around. Scott Spencer and A.J. certainly could see more time than they’ve seen,” Brownell said. “Marcquise can play some point for us. Gabe handles the ball well enough to be back there and do some things… We just gotta figure out some ways. We might have to tinker a few things, but we’ll work on that if we need to.”

Clemson will have the benefit of playing in front of its home crowd.

The Tigers are 13-0 at home this season with ACC wins over N.C. State, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Pittsburgh at Littlejohn Coliseum.

“We want to create an environment with our fan base that this is a difficult place to play. I think it is, especially when we sell the place out and get it like it needs to be. I think this is a great home court,” Brownell said.

But Clemson will face perhaps its biggest test of the season on Sunday against a Duke team with several NBA prospects.

“There’s so many things to worry about when you play those guys,” Brownell said. “They’ve got pros down low that can score. They’ve got guys that make 3s. They beat you off the dribble. You just try to defend them as best you can and make them take a tough shot.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2018 at 5:11 PM with the headline "No. 11 Clemson, No. 12 Duke to be without key players for ACC showdown."