Duke 92
Clemson 78

The first seven minutes of the game were very close. Clemson went to the boards for some second- chance points and hit an early three, a good sign for a team that makes fewer than a third of their threes. Duke countered with a very active Boozer. The balance of the game quickly changed with a 8-0 Shane Battier run, where he nailed a couple of threes in succession with seemingly very little effort. That put Duke up 16-9 and gave them their first working margin. Clemson would continue to challenge and at one point was matching Duke possession-for-possession. Unfortunately, Clemson was hitting tough drives while Duke bombed away with 3 consecutive threes to go up 27-17. This Tiger team is tough, however, and scrapped back to within 5. But Duke went on a devastating 11-0 spanning three minutes of the half, snuffing out the confidence the Tigers had gained by hanging in there. Battier struck again for a couple of more threes during this run, and had 7 for the night--1 shy of the Duke record set by Will Avery. Clemson came to their senses a bit and started to attack again, but Duke held an intimidating 45-29. This was a solid lead, but not unassailable.

Ready for the chance to bean an opponent into submission, Duke came out hot to start the second half, getting some easy inside baskets. But Clemson finally showed some fire and sustained offense, going on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 15. The Tigers were patient, knowing that if they kept working hard, they'd be able to tire out the Devils. Even better, two starting stalwarts were starting to get into foul trouble as Boozer and James saw a lot of bench time as a result. Coming to Duke's rescue was the remarkable Jason Williams, who scored 5 straight to put Duke up 61-46. He and James played some great defense, forcing a turnover which led to a slam. With eight minutes left, Duke was up 18 and in good shape. The Tigers continued to struggle, pulling within 12 or so but then being pushed back, thanks to a timely Battier three or James rebound basket. With about five minutes left, Clemson began their last push.

Back-to-back Clemson threes brought them to within 12, where they hovered until James fouled out with over three minutes left. Six straight points narrowed the gap to 8. Some foul shots stretched the lead to 11 with two minutes left. A three brought the Tigers back to within 8. Moreover, Jason Williams missed a couple of free throws, meaning that the Tigers had the ball and a chance to really cut into the lead. But Andre Buckner made a huge defensive play by staying in his zone and waiting for a bad pass, snatching it away from Ed Scott. Andre made his foul shots, which started a parade of Devils going to the line in the last couple of minutes. The "Hack-a-Duke" category does not work very well, especially in the last couple of minutes where Duke went 13-14. Clemson kept fighting, but too many missed shots doomed them at the end.

Duke has now won 19 straight ACC road games, a completely unprecedented feat. This was their 14th win of the year, giving them a 45-2 record in the regular season over the past three years. Carrawell and Battier are #3 and 4 in the ACC scoring race. Battier is #6 in FG%, #2 in 3FG%, #1 in FT%, #4 in threes per game, #5 in blocks and #5 in steals. Carrawell is #5 in FG%, #5 in FT%, #8 in assists and #8 in blocks. Duke tops the ACC in 6 different categories (scoring, scoring margin, 3 FG%, FT%, turnover margin and threes per game. Duke is second in three categories: FG%, blocked shots and steals.

** Negatives:

1. Playing with fatigue. The classic Coach K philsophy on fatigue is that a team should rest during offense and go all-out on defense. Sometimes, this team does the opposite, scoring with ease but not being as aggressive as they should on defense. This allows teams to come back, gaining confidence and creating an offensive rhythm.

2. Cutting off the drive. Even when Duke was at full power, they allowed way too much penetration. Clemson had trouble finishing (partly because of good post defense), but they had their chances. When Duke got tired, Clemson was able to penetrate with ease.

3. Ball pressure. This goes back to fatigue and Duke's thin lineup. The Devils aren't able to attack the ball as aggressively as they might like, because that level of pressure takes a lot of energy. Instead, Duke picks their spots and concentrates on the wings instead of the ball. But this approach means that a player who can use dribble penetration won't be as affected by this means of attack.

** Positives:

1. Rebounding. Duke had a real commitment to rebounding in this game after their poor recent performances. Clemson is one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and the Devils fought them tooth and nail to get an overall advantage. Boozer in particular was excellent, getting extra shots for Duke early in the game when the Devils had some trouble scoring. Carrawell and Williams also did a fine job from the guard position, with C'well going at the boards and Williams snagging long rebounds.

2. Shooting. Battier was a frightening 7-10 from three, while Horvath managed 2-3 shooting. Duke's good shooting tailed off a bit (from over 50% to 47%), but the initial blast was energizing for Duke and disheartening for Clemson.

3. Foul shooting under pressure. Duke was 20-22 in the second half and 11-11 down the stretch. But it was kids like Buckner and Horvath who really came through, guys who don't play much but who relaxed and did their job when they were called upon. Also, Carrawell almost never misses when the game is on the line.

Player-By-Player Analysis:

** Boozer: Carlos had a solid game that was marred only by foul trouble. He did a great job challenging Clemson's big men and played some of the best defense of his career. This was the first time I've him scrapping for loose balls on most every play, and it really boosted Duke's overall energy level. He was especially impressive in the first half as he scored Duke's first points on free throws. He soon posted up for another basket and smooth move. He also did a fine job passing out of the post, finding Carrawell for a long jumper. Most impressive was his aggressiveness on the boards, getting 5 in the opening minutes. He continued to attack the basket in the second half, scoring on a layup, but soon got a number of fouls called on him in a row, forcing him to sit. Without him attacking the basket, Duke's offense stagnated a bit, but he made some bad decisions on how aggressively he needed to be on defense and fouled out with over five minutes left in the game. Duke really could have used him in spreading out the offense and getting easy baskets for him that way. Despite the modest stats and foul trouble, Carlos is really stepping up, particularly on defense. We'll soon see if he's ready to deal with Brendan Haywood.

** Battier: Shane found Zen once again and practiced a number of brutal acts of ontological terrorism upon the poor Tigers in the first half. He missed a couple of easy shots early on but then suddenly started to click with a nice baseline jumper. That then snowballed into back-to-back threes and a personal 8-0 run. Every time Clemson tried to close the gap in the first half, Shane would simply hit another three. Close within 5? Three on a pass from Carrawell. Close within 7? A three thanks to a Horvath pass. He hit 2 more first-half threes that boosted Duke to a 16 point lead. Shane was also nasty on defense, blocking three shots that were controlled by Duke. Shane has excellent shot-blocking touch, where he can softly block a shot so that it spins into his own hand. He can often grab the rebound just like that. He also found Boozer on an excellent pass in the post after drawing out a defender. Shane was much quieter in the second half, hitting only 1 three (breaking up a 4-0 run). He continued to smother Jurkunas on defense, shutting down an important part of the Clemson offense. Shane was also 3-4 from the foul line in the second half. Battier was disappointed in his offensive performance in the second half, where once again he didn't really demand the ball. I sense he was worried about shooting too much and hurting team chemistry, but that wasn't really the proper time to worry about that particular issue. When Battier is hot and open, he needs to shoot early and often.

** Carrawell: Once again assigned to guard the tough Will Solomon, Chris did a great job in the first half (witih Solomon missing something like 8 of his first 11 shots) but did not challenge him as well in the second. His shooting (6-16) also suffered a bit, especially from deep. Chris did come out early and test his shot a little, doing well from medium range. He drove and pulled up for an awkward 15' and spotted up for a long jumper just inside the three point line. He also moved the ball well, finding Battier twice for threes. Most impressive was a drive for a score just before the half ran out, the kind of clutch play he's been making all year. He also had an emphatic block and made things tough on Solomon, making him take shots he didn't want. The second half was more of a struggle, as C'well only hit 2 of 5 and one was an easy cut. The other was a 15' jumper, but Chris was able to contribute in other ways. In addition to harrassing Solomon, Chris picked up 3 boards and was 6-6 from the foul line in crunch time, including hitting 2 after a 6-0 Clemson run and another pair when the Tigers cut the lead to 9. This was by no means his greatest game, but he was heady and poised throughout. He didn't look confused or sluggish like against St. John's in the second half. Chris will need to start conserving his energy from now on, even if it means that his stats might suffer a bit, because he'll be playing 40 minutes a game most every night.

** James: Nate had a number of silly fouls. He picked up his third foul late in the second half after going 0-3 from the field. Clearly, he was pressing just too much. He relaxed a bit in the second while picking up his defense, but a charge really hurt him. He did score the first points of the second half for Duke on a nice pass from Carrawell. He also hit a big three as part of a 10-2 run, and had Duke's last field goal (with 3:31 left!). Fouling out hurt Duke's ability to pressure the wings as much as they wanted. Nate did have a solid 5 rebounds, part of a good group effort.

** Williams: Another excellent game. As Jason has made the rounds in the league, he's become more confident in his second meetings with teams, and is now fully prepared to step up. More than anything, he's really developed a much better sense of when to blend in and when to step up, when to take the three and when to penetrate, when to look for his own shot and when to find another hot shooter. For example, in the first half, Jason only took 5 shots, making 1 (a 17' jumper). But he had 5 assists and 4 boards, finding both Battier and Horvath twice for threes and Carrawell for a dunk. In the second half, Boozer's foul troubles and Battier's cold streak meant that it was time for him to take over on offense. He absolutely dominated the proceedings, beginning with a drive and then delivering a perfect pass to C'well on a cut. Clemson managed to cut the lead to 10, but Jason responded by nailing a three on a pullup and then driving on the very next play. He displayed his energy by scrapping for a steal, keeping control of the ball, and then taking off a couple of steps over the foul line for a one-handed slam and an 18-point lead. He kept it up with a pass to Battier for his only three of the half. While he did miss 3 of his first 4 foul shots when Clemson began to pressure the Devils, he sank his last 4 to seal the game. Jason did make two major mistakes: not realizing that the shot clock hadn't reset after a Duke shot went errant and he got a rebound, forcing him to throw up a bad shot; and allowing the ball to be stripped on one possession when Clemson was using its press. To his credit, he made up for this error by steadily handling the pressure and making good decisions.

** Christensen: Matt gave some solid minutes in the first half. He had a rebound basket that helped spark an 11-0 Duke run, and his three boards in only nine minutes showed a decent level of productivity. He also played good defense. He didn't play much in the second because Duke wanted ballhandlers out there.

** Horvath: Nick did a pretty good job. He hit the open threes and made a number of his foul shots. He also got some tough rebounds. He hit both of his threes in the first half and also found Battier for a three. In general, he did a fine job in passing the ball around, but also knew when to shoot. He was 6-8 from the line in the game, including 3-4 in the last two minutes. In Boozer's absence he stepped in with three second half boards and also a block. Against a team with a lot of size, he held his own down low. He even had a blocked shot. Nick won't help against quick teams, but he'll provide matchup problems for a lot of big teams with his shooting ability.

** Buckner: When James fouled out, Coach K had very few options left. With the Tigers pressing, he couldn't put in Christensen or Sanders because he needed a ballhandler. And the only player who fit that bill was young Andre, the recruiting afterthought. Fouled immediately upon entering the game, he missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the Tigers went on to score. With two minutes left, Williams missed 2 free throws and the Tigers were down only by 8. Buckner hung back and snagged a bad pass, and was then fouled. He tried to pass it to Williams, but he wasn't quick enough. The Clemson players pointed at him, as if to make sure that the "bad" player would get to the line. Andre, in another one-and- one, stared down the Tigers and hit both free throws. He completely halted Clemson's momentum as the Tigers never got closer than 8 the rest of the way. He also did a nice job breakin the press and making good decisions. Every reserve is told to be ready at all times, because one never knows when they'll ne needed. Andre showed that he was ready, and acquitted himself well.

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu