CLEMSON — Clemson basketball’s starters have a combined 19 years of college basketball experience, and their maturity was on full display in the Tigers’ 77-71 win over No. 2 Duke Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson’s veteran core shined against a Duke team that featured three freshmen in the starting lineup. Redshirt senior Viktor Lakhin posted 22 points off of 75 percent shooting (9-12), a point shy of his career-high 23 against Memphis earlier this year, and 10 points above his season average of 10.1 per game.

Additionally, graduate guard Chase Hunter knocked down four consecutive free throws and added a go-ahead layup and a chase-down block in the final minutes to seal the Tigers’ victory. Senior Ian Schieffelin (12 points and 10 rebounds) grabbed eight defensive rebounds to warrant Duke only five second-chance points in comparison to Clemson’s 15.

Graduate transfer Jaeden Zackery added 12 points, including a huge three-pointer in the second half, while shooting 5 of 9 from the floor.

Though the upset appeared shocking, as Duke had remained unbeaten for 71 days (16 games), Clemson veterans are no strangers to big wins.

The Tigers (19-5, 11-2 ACC) have won their last five games against AP top-five ranked opponents, all while being unranked themselves.

In December’s win over No. 4 Kentucky, Schieffelin posted 12 points and 20 rebounds. In last year’s defeat of fourth-ranked Alabama, Hunter added 15 points, shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc. Hunter and Schieffelin also have experience in win-or-go-home situations, as they both played key roles in Clemson’s three victories in the NCAA Tournament last year.

Following the game, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer shared that Clemson brought “everything we expected,” given the Tigers’ success and strong culture garnered by head coach Brownell.

Brownell was also not surprised by Clemson’s performance and cites the experience in the Tigers’ locker room as a deciding factor in the win.

“They’ve been through a lot of games. They know how to win,” Brownell said. “They’ve handled good situations, tough situations, and tonight was really good. They were talking to each other in huddles, encouraging each other. You could feel how much they really wanted to win.”

For Hunter, maturity and adversity from losing to Georgia Tech on Wednesday were keys to securing the upset against the Blue Devils.

“We’ve got an older group of guys who have been through a lot of games, a lot of losses, a lot of different things, a lot of adversity,” Hunter said. “I think that it shows out there when we play. We play with a lot of grit, a lot of toughness.”

Clemson’s next challenge is keeping its grit and toughness up for a quick turnaround. The Tigers have less than two days to prepare for another ACC matchup against North Carolina on Monday.

While a win over UNC would not be a top-five upset, the Tigers need the victory to keep their momentum rolling and to remain near the top of the ACC standings. They currently sit tied with Louisville for second in the ACC standings, one game behind Duke (20-3, 12-1 ACC).

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum.