Tyrese Proctor made two free throws with 1 second to play to lift No. 12 Duke past Clemson 72-71 in a game with a back-and-forth late-game stretch Saturday at Durham, N.C.
Jared McCain scored 21 points Proctor added 18 points and Mark Mitchell chipped in with 13 points for the Blue Devils (15-4, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who stayed within two games in the loss column behind first-place North Carolina. Duke, which had a 10-point lead early in the second half, avoided its second home loss this month.
PJ Hall made two foul shots to put Clemson ahead with 7.4 seconds remaining, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph Girard III had all 13 of his points in the second half and Chase Hunter posted 11 points for Clemson (13-6, 3-5).
Girard’s jumper gave the Tigers the lead with three minutes left and Hall followed with two free throws.
Duke went two possessions without scoring before McCain drove for a bucket.
McCain missed a potential go-ahead 3 in between two Clemson turnovers. Duke’s Kyle Filipowski converted a three-point play with 15.2 seconds to play as Ian Schieffelin, who pulled in a game-high 11 rebounds, fouled out before Clemson called a timeout.
Filipowski fouled out at the 7.4-second mark, sending Hall for the tying and go-ahead free throws before Proctor was fouled on a mid-range jumper on Duke’s last possession.
McCain scored nine consecutive points for Duke during a stretch in the second half.
Filipowski, plagued by fouls, had a rough outing, shooting 2-for-8 from the floor and 5-for-11 on free throws for nine point
.
Hall and Hunter were the only Clemson starters to score in the first half, when the Tigers shot 29 percent from the floor. Others got involved right away in the second half.
Clemson was within 45-43 on Hall’s 3-point play before Duke stretched the margin back to six points.
Mitchell posted 10 of Duke’s first 26 points. The Blue Devils led 32-26 at the half after leading by as many as 12.
–Field Level Media