Viktor Lakhin scored 22 points and Chase Hunter made the go-ahead basket in the final minute as Clemson knocked off No. 2 Duke 77-71 on Saturday night at Clemson, S.C., ending the Blue Devils’ 16-game winning streak.
Hunter sank four free throws in the last 15 seconds to finish with 14 points and teammates Jaeden Zackery and Ian Schieffelin each had 12 points.
Tyrese Proctor scored 23 points, Cooper Flagg racked up 14 of his 18 points in the last 6:05 and Kon Knueppel had 14 points for Duke (20-3, 12-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which seemed in position to emerge as the new No. 1 team in the country after top-ranked Auburn lost earlier in the day at home to No. 6 Florida.
Clemson (19-5, 11-2), which lost earlier in the week in triple overtime to visiting Georgia Tech, moved within a game of first-place Duke.
Clemson led 70-68 when Schieffelin missed two free throws with 1:15 to go before Flagg’s go-ahead 3. Hunter then scored and Lakhin added a free throw. Trailing 74-71, the Blue Devils had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Flagg slipped on a drive for a turnover before the final foul shots.
The Blue Devils outscored Clemson 36-12 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Duke held a nine-point lead before going to the break with a 41-35 edge. Lakhin posted Clemson’s first nine points of the second half as the Tigers closed within 46-44.
Teammates had the next three baskets and the Tigers held a 51-49 lead, marking the third time in the last five games that Duke trailed in the second half.
It turned into a 12-0 run for Clemson as the Blue Devils went through a scoring drought of almost six minutes before reserve Isaiah Evans’ 3-point basket.
Flagg’s 3-pointer pulled Duke even at 59-59 with 5:16 to play. After Lakhin’s basket, Proctor’s 3 gave the Blue Devils the lead. Flagg hit another tying 3-pointer at the 2:06 mark, but Dillon Hunter’s 3 gave the lead back to the Tigers before the final sequence.
Clemson’s surge early in the second half was similar to Duke’s game at Wake Forest, but this time the Blue Devils couldn’t pull out a victory.
Proctor scored 16 first-half points as Duke shot 57.7 percent from the field. Clemson’s 68.2 percent mark was diminished by 10 turnovers, which led to 18 Duke points.
Former Duke player Christian Reeves, a first-year transfer for Clemson, had five first-half points off the bench.
–Field Level Media
