Seventh-ranked Duke didn't need long to make Clemson look as uncomfortable as ever in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
While Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith each had big scoring games, it was the Blue Devils' lockdown first-half defense that put the 21st-ranked Tigers in a big hole on the way to a 74-53 win Sunday night.
The victory extended Clemson's misery in Cameron - 15 years and counting - while giving the Blue Devils a comfortable win against a team picked to finish near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Duke (12-1, 1-0 ACC) held Clemson to just 12 points in the opening half and led by 18 at the break, avenging last year's lopsided loss while handing the Tigers (12-3, 0-1) their 13th straight defeat at college basketball's notoriously hostile arena.
"Our defense, that's what we want to be known for this year," said Scheyer, who scored 19 of his 22 points after halftime. "In the first half, we felt good just because you could see they weren't in a good rhythm. ... For the rest of the game, we didn't really let them get back into it."
Smith also scored 22 points for Duke, while Kyle Singler added 16 points and eight rebounds. Duke followed its season-high 114 points in Thursday night's win against Penn by shooting 50 percent against the Tigers, including 60 percent after halftime.
No comments:
Post a Comment