CLEMSON – Twentieth-ranked Clemson’s historic ACC road winning streak snapped like a candy heart Saturday as the Tigers suffered a sour 67-54 loss to No. 4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The No. 4 Blue Devils, fresh off of week’s rest and hungry for revenge from a loss to the Tigers last season, knocked down ten three-pointers on 34.5 percent shooting, adding 24 points in the paint, 11 free throws, and nine forced turnovers as they handed Clemson its first loss on the road in ACC-play in over a year.

While the Tigers held Duke to their lowest point total this season, the Blue Devils made up for high scoring margins with debilitating defense, eventually handing the Tigers back-to-back losses for the second time this season.

“They’re a really good team and they are excellent defensively,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said postgame. “I think we all talk about Boozer and Evans and those guys are terrific and they certainly run good stuff on offense, and I think (coach) Jon (Scheyer) is doing a great job with the program, but probably not enough is made how well they defend. They are very well-schooled and their kids play hard.”

As it has become custom in the last few years, the Tigers and Blue Devils started in a battle even before tipoff, when Carter Welling jumped early before securing the first possession. 

Godfrey opened all scoring with a layup, Boozer responded with a breakaway slam dunk that sent the decibel levels in the 9,300-strong crowd skyrocketing. The Tigers found initial success by drawing contact.

Godfrey and Welling each made two free throws in the first three minutes of play for four of Clemson’s first six points, after struggling at the charity stripe in the loss to Virginia Tech last Wednesday.

Duke’s Caleb Foster and Dame Sarr hit two early three-pointers to give the Blue Devils a 11-8 lead, but Godfrey’s physicality inside kept the Tigers right in step early.

The senior notched ten first half points on 4-of-7 shooting, the best of any player, along with four rebounds. Carter Welling added six first half points on four made free throws and a layup, pulling in two rebounds.

Still, the post-play from a three-big starting lineup was not able to overcome shooting woes early. Clemson made only one three-pointer to Duke’s six, and shot only 32% from the field to the Blue Devils’ 33.3 percent from long range. 

Guard Isaiah Evans led the charge for Jon Scheyer’s squad in the first with nine points, all from beyond the arc.

Defensively, the Tigers shut the Blue Devils down in the first half, holding them to only 31 points before the break. For reference, Duke averaged almost 83 points per game entering the matchup Saturday. Godfrey held Boozer, ESPN’s No. 3 projected NBA draft pick to five first half points, while the team as a whole forced four early turnovers.

“I thought we guarded about as well as we can guard them,” Brownell said. “I thought our kids played their tails off. I thought that we battled on it… It’s hard when you’re struggling that bad on offense for your defense not to just give in, and I don’t think we did.”

However, Duke also forced four Clemson turnovers, and scored seven points on the takeaways to Clemson’s two.

With the shooting woes, a five-point deficit at halftime seemed very recoverable for the Tigers. But while Clemson remained ice cold, Duke heated up and settled into its No. 4 ESPN ranking.

In the first seven minutes of the second half, Duke went on a 17-5 run that included three made three-pointers, an and-1, three Clemson turnovers, and only two points on 13 Tigers’ possessions.

“Obviously we are not as gifted offensively, and this is where not having a guy that can kind of save you at times, go make a great one-on-one play on a consistent basis… probably hurts us.”

In the stretch, Duke lived up to its No. 1 ranking in defensive and offensive margin in the ACC, while Clemson’s offensive warts were exposed. The Tigers missed eight of their first nine shots to start the second half and finished on 35% shooting from the field.

By the time Dillon Hunter called a timeout with 13 minutes to play (which the referee could not hear due to an inflamed student section), things had gotten out of hand for the Tigers.

Clemson fought back to cut the lead to 13, largely thanks to Jake Wahlin and Dillon Hunter finally hitting a couple of shots, but it was too late to overcome the previous 21-7 run that simultaneously opened the second half and ruined Clemson’s Valentines’ Day.

Welling finished as Clemson’s leading scorer, with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Godfrey added ten on 40% shooting. Duke’s Boozer brothers and Evans combined for 47 of the Blue Devils’ 67 points. Guard Ace Buckner added seven points. His father, Greg, was a member of the last Clemson team to beat Duke at Cameron Indoor in 1995.

When It Was Over

With around 10 minutes to play, Clemson showed signs of life after Jake Wahlin and Ace Buckner each knocked down shots to cut the lead to 14. Promptly, Duke’s Nikolas Khamenia knocked down Duke’s tenth three-pointer of the day to stifle any kind of run. 

Interesting Stat

Even with the loss, Valentine’s Day is the winningest day in Clemson basketball history.

Up Next

Clemson will not get the luxury of returning home to a forgiving crowd after a 0-2 week. Instead, the Tigers will head to Winston-Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at LJVM Coliseum Wednesday. The Tigers will tip off at 7 p.m.