Feeling Blue: Clemson comes close, can’t get past Duke at home

CLEMSON Clemson basketball was without starting point guard Shelton Mitchell for Sunday’s showdown with Duke, and Tigers coach Brad Brownell said that veterans Gabe DeVoe and Marcquise Reed would need to step up in Mitchell’s absence.

Instead, the two struggled most of the afternoon as the 11^th-ranked Tigers (20-6, 9-5) fell 66-57 to No. 12 Duke (22-5, 10-4) Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Reed and DeVoe, who have carried Clemson offensively for parts of the year, combined to score only 16 points on 4-for-24 shooting as the Tigers lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Clemson fought back from a 10-point second-half deficit to tie the game at 57 in the final minutes, but Duke ended the game on a 9-0 to secure the victory.

“I thought we competed. I thought we did what we wanted to do defensively in the game. I thought we were hard to play against,” Brownell said. “But if you’re going to beat a top 10 team in the country you’ve gotta play better basketball. We might’ve won against some teams today. But we weren’t gonna win against Duke.”

The game appeared to be getting away from Clemson with about seven minutes remaining as the Blue Devils took a 57-47 lead and appeared in control.

But Reed scored five consecutive points, starting a 10-0 run to tie the score at 57 with 2:03 remaining. DeVoe’s only bucket of the game was a 3-pointer he nailed with 2:54 left to cut Duke’s lead to 2.

David Skara followed with a layup to bring the teams even and send Littlejohn into a frenzy. However, it was all Duke from that point forward.

Gary Trent Jr. was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to give the Blue Devils the lead for good. Clemson did not score in the final two minutes, and Duke was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line down the stretch.

Trent Jr. was fouled in the corner by Scott Spencer, who was trying to contest the shot but couldn’t do so without fouling.

“Obviously that was a huge play at the end of the game. We’ve got all the momentum, a 10-0 run maybe to tie it at 57, and then you don’t make them make a basket. It just changes the whole outlook of the game,” Brownell said. “It’s a bad play. … You’ve just got to contest and not foul, make them make it. Make them make a tough shot. What’s disappointing is we didn’t make them make it.”

Clemson’s offense struggled against Duke’s zone without Mitchell as the Tigers committed 13 turnovers and shot only 34.4 percent from the field. Clemson finished 5-for-20 from 3-point range.

DeVoe had made at least five 3-pointers in four of the past five games and was shooting 62.5 percent from 3 during that time.

“I think we’re fortunate he missed a few. Our main attention was on DeVoe and Reed. They’re right at the top of the scouting report. … Make sure you know where those guys are,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “(DeVoe) missed a couple. … We feel fortunate that he didn’t have a shooting afternoon that he normally does.”

But Clemson still almost had enough to knock off the Blue Devils, who were playing without star Marvin Bagley for the third consecutive game.

Duke led 35-34 at the half as Grayson Allen scored 17 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, and the game featured seven lead changes before the Blue Devils grabbed control and moved into sole possession of second place in the ACC.

“It was a really tough ACC game,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought both teams played their hearts out. Both teams suffering from some injuries. … The kids on the court just put their hearts on the court.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Feeling Blue: Clemson comes close, can’t get past Duke at home."