College basketball can be a funny game. Just days after the Clemson Tigers spit the bit at home by losing to a bad Georgia Tech team in 3-OT, Saturday night, Clemson rebounded in the biggest way possible by upsetting No. 2 Duke 77-71 inside Littlejohn Coliseum. It was the biggest win of the season thus far for head coach Brad Brownell and his team because it keeps the Tigers in the ACC regular-season race and virtually sows up an NCAA Tournament bid.
With a team-high 22 points to go along with four rebounds and three blocks (one of which was a crucial block in the final minute of the game), senior big man Viktor Lakhin had the best game of his Clemson career. Just one game after he played only 15 minutes and scored only five points against Georgia Tech because of foul trouble, the Cincinnati transfer had his best game thus far in 2024-25.
Meanwhile, Chase Hunter, Clemson's best player, was again clutch. On a night when he was held in check for most of the game, the senior guard scored eight of his 14 points in the final four minutes (including six in the final two minutes) as the Tigers ended the game on a 7-0 run.
While Hunter came through when his team needed him the most, the same couldn't be said for Duke's superstar freshman Cooper Flagg. Though he had a nice game with 18 points and five rebounds, he was unable to put his team ahead as he slipped while driving the ball to the basket with 14 seconds to play resulting in a traveling violation that gave the ball back to the Tigers who led 73-71.
That giveaway came two possessions after he had put his team up 71-70 via a 3-point shot with 58 seconds to go and it looked for a moment that Flagg was going to be the hero of the night. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. While the highlight packages and the social media posts will center on Flagg and the Blue Devils, the story of this game was Clemson, which played rugged defense and efficient offense to hand Duke its first ACC loss of the season.
So let's take a look at some quick thoughts on an unforgettable Clemson victory. And we'll begin by paying tribute to the Tigers' unsung hero.
Clemson forward Ian Schieffelin battles Cooper Flagg all night
The box score won't tell the story of Ian Schieffelin's night. Clemson's heart and soul finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds to post another double-double but those numbers won't garner that much attention.
Where the senior forward was special, though, was on the defensive end of the court where he hounded Flagg all night. Though the freshman phenom eventually made his mark on the game, Schieffelin made him work for every bucket.
For the game, Flagg was just 6-17 shooting. And for most of the evening, Schieffelin was Flagg's primary defender.
Schieffelin used his weight and strength to his advantage making it difficult for the lanky but athletic Flagg to get to where he wanted to be on the court. That's one advantage of having an experienced senior to check an All-American freshman. Sometimes, savvy and grown-man strength can neutralize the raw talent of a player like Flagg who could still be playing high school basketball. So while Schieffelin wasn't a huge offensive contributor, he helped turn this game in Clemson's favor with his solid defense on the game's best player.
Clemson plays elite offense against one of the nation's best defenisve teams
Usually, when Clemson has won big games under Brownell's watch, it has been defensive efforts that have led the way. However, on Saturday, the Tigers played elite offense against a Duke team that usually smothers its opponents with defense.
Coming into the game, no team had shot over 50% from the floor against Duke. What's more, the Blue Devils ranked 4th nationally in the KenPom.com defensive efficiency rating.
Saturday night, though, the Tigers shot a blistering 58.8% from the floor. And though the Tigers scored 77 points, they could have put up far more.
The best 3-point shooting team in the ACC, Clemson, was just 4-10 from deep for the game. What's more, the Tigers made only 13 of their 22 free throw attempts.
Fortunately, the Tigers were on fire from 2-point range going 26-41 (63.4%). That was due to their ability to get offense in the paint where they outscored the Blue Devils 40-22.
Clemson owns the glass against an elite rebounding team
Duke is the tallest team in the country and subsequently, the Blue Devils are also one of the best rebounding teams in the game. However, on Saturday, it was Clemson that owned the glass.
The Tigers won the battle on the boards 36-23. That was thanks in large part to Schieffelin and...Chase Hunter who had seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, Duke's leading rebounding, freshman Khaman Maluach, had only five rebounds on the night. The 7-foot-2 center played only 20 minutes because of foul trouble and would foul out before making his impact felt.
Clemson puts the clamps on Duke's guards in the second half
Finally, don't overlook the job the Clemson perimeter players did on defense in the second half. In the first half, Duke's Tyrese Proctor scored 16 points and Kon Knueppel added 11 to push their team to a 41-35 halftime lead.
After the break, though, that duo would combine for just ten total points. Knueppel was cooled off by long stretches on the bench after being saddled with four fouls. Meanwhile, Clemson point guard Jaeden Zackery would play lock-down defense on Proctor after the break.
On a night when Flagg looked human, the Blue Devils needed someone else to help carry the offensive load and it looked like Proctor and Knueppel were going to do that. But Clemson took them out of rhythm after the break and that put more of the onus on Flagg who didn't have enough heroics to carry his team to a win on the road.