Duke Blue Devils Demolish Clemson
DURHAM, N.C. – The Blue Devils wasted no time laying siege to their opponent en route to a 79-53 victory for Duke over the Clemson Tigers on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Mike Krzyzewski-led team entered the contest looking to win two straight after dropping their prior three games.
Matthew Hurt started the scoring off with a jumper after a bit of uneventful back-and-forth play. Clemson responded with a layup of their own, their only basket for the next four minutes. During this stretch, the Blue Devils would score 7 straight points before surrendering a three-pointer.
With an early 9-5 advantage, Duke tried to go for the kill.
Duke went on a 13-3 scoring run to double up Clemson and notch the score at 22-11 after only 12 minutes and 37 seconds of play. The Blue Devils converted on 45.2% of their field-goal attempts during the first half while holding Clemson to only 29.6% from the field. The Blue Devils had five players contribute at least two field goals in the first half, they would end the game with five double-digit scorers. Their defense was equally dominant, forcing eight turnovers in the first half and scoring 14 points on these early opportunities. Freshman forward Jalen Johnson epitomized the Blue Devils’ attitude with what may be the dunk of the year on a transition play after stealing an errant pass and preceding to posterize a member of the Clemson team with a monstrous jam. The Blue Devils cruised into halftime with a 41-22 lead as they had undoubtedly established their dominance during the first half of play.
The story of the second half was much the same as the first, Duke asserting their dominance over Clemson. The Blue Devils continued their stifling defensive pressure, ending the game with 25 points off of turnovers. The Blue Devils offense also remained unstoppable in the second half, forcing Clemson to call a timeout only two minutes into play. The Blue Devils went up by 34 points twice during the second half, leading by a score of 68-34 and 72-38 respectively. The final tally of 79-53 saw Duke win by a 26 point margin, their largest win of the season.
Jalen Johnson recorded a monstrous stat line with nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Despite early foul trouble, sophomore forward Matthew Hurt led the way for the Blue Devils with 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor.
Jeremy Roach bounced back from a poor performance against Georgia Tech with 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists.
Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week D.J. Steward, despite early foul trouble, managed to catch fire to the tune of 11 points, two rebounds, and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
Freshman Center Mark Williams recorded a career-high 11 points in addition to five rebounds and two blocks.
Duke generated 20 assists during the contest, a testament to the team-oriented style of basketball they were playing that has always characterized their program. When asked about the ease at which their offense seemed to generate these assists, freshman guard D.J. Steward asserted that it was merely the product of hours of preparation since the team has been “working on sharing the ball with each other in practice” and merely translated that preparation into on-court success.
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski admitted that it was a “big win for us” in the postgame meeting, but stressed that it shouldn’t be over celebrated. Duke has now won two straight games and definitively snapped out of their losing slump.
The Duke Blue Devils (7-5, 5-3 ACC) return to action Monday, February 1st, 2021 to face the Miami Hurricanes (6-9, 2-8 ACC) at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables Florida.