Tigers Fall to Duke, 65-55 |
DURHAM, N.C. - Another solid Clemson defensive effort was undone by an
inability to take care of the basketball Sunday night. The Tigers committed 26 turnovers in a 65-55 loss at No. 9 Duke Sunday night, their largest number of giveaways this season. The loss drops Clemson to 12-7 overall, 2-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Blue Devils scored 20 points off the Clemson turnovers, while the Tigers managed 10 points off Duke's 16 giveaways. Duke (16-3, 6-3) had just one double-figure scorer on the evening - Dahntay Jones who finished with 15 points. But because of the turnovers, the Blue Devils were able to attempt 13 more shots than the Tigers (62-49), and received enough scoring throughout the lineup to overcome the Tigers' trio of players to hit double digits. Chey Christie led Clemson with 17 points, with Ed Scott adding 11 and Chris Hobbs 10. "We had a real good opportunity that they could have knocked us out very early and it was our defense, our ability to get five people back and dig in that kept us in the game the entire first half," Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt said. "We survived that run with a couple of shots by Chey Christie and the about five or six straight stops defensively. A lot of guts on the floor. "We got to the foul line and we evened up the score. Unfortunately in the second half we just failed ourselves in terms of getting to the foul line. As we know that's probably the major task. Turnovers absolutely kill you against Duke." While it struggled to hang onto the ball offensively, Clemson turned in another solid defensive effort. The Tigers held Duke to just 33 percent shooting (21-of-62) on the night, including just 5-of-24 from the 3-point line. Clemson didn't shoot much better, hitting only 38 percent (19-of-49) from the field, but did connect on 5-of-8 from the 3-point line. The Tigers opened the second half with a 9-2 run, the last basket by Scott pulling his team within 35-34 with just over 17 minutes left in the game. But the Blue Devils answered with a 13-0 run over the next six-plus minutes to extend the lead to 47-34. Julian Betko's 3-pointer temporarily stopped the bleeding, but Duke would eventually extend the margin to 15 with 6:50 to go. Clemson never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Clemson stayed in the game early despite committing turnovers on nine of its first 13 possessions. Clemson gave it away 14 times total in the first half and gave the Blue Devils 12 points on second-chance opportunities. But the Tigers were able to hang close because of their defense. They held Duke to just 36 percent shooting in the half, and after trailing by as many as 12 points cut the margin to nine, 34-25, at the break. "A great performance by Duke," said Shyatt. "Without tipping my hat in any way, very disappointed we couldn't get to the bonus in the entire second half." The game was delayed for more than 10 minutes early in the second half when a female Duke student suffered a seizure and collapsed in the front row of the stands near midcourt. She received medical attention on site and was taken away on a stretcher. She had regained consciousness by the time she was wheeled out of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and waved weakly to the crowd as she left. CLEMSON (12-7) Ford 3-11 1-2 7, Babalola 0-1 0-0 0, Hobbs 3-7 4-6 10, Scott 5-12 1-2 11, Christie 4-8 6-6 17, Betko 1-2 0-0 3, Nagys 0-2 0-0 0, Henderson 1-3 0-0 2, Robinson 2-3 0-0 5, Douglas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 12-16 55. DUKE (16-3) Horvath 1-6 0-0 2, Jones 3-12 8-12 15, Sanders 2-4 4-6 8, Redick 3-12 1-1 9, Duhon 2-8 0-3 4, Ewing 2-5 0-0 5, Melchionni 1-1 0-0 3, Dockery 2-3 0-0 4, Williams 2-3 5-6 9, Randolph 3-7 0-0 6, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 18-28 65. Halftime-Duke 34-25. 3-Point goals-Clemson 5-8 (Christie 3-4, Betko 1-1, Robinson 1-1, Babalola 0-1, Scott 0-1), Duke 5-24 (Redick 2-10, Melchionni 1-1, Ewing 1-2, Jones 1-4, Horvath 0-3, Duhon 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Clemson 40 (Hobbs 11), Duke 42 (Sanders 14). Assists-Clemson 9 (Scott 5), Duke 12 (Duhon 5). Total fouls-Clemson 25, Duke 18. A-9,314.
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