Duke blows out Clemson in Coach K's last trip to Littlejohn

David Collins was ejected after a hard foul after this Duke steal. (Photo: Dawson Powers / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Feb 10 22:14:32 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Coach K’s last trip to Littlejohn Coliseum was memorable for anyone associated with Duke. For anyone associated with Clemson, it was another staggering loss in a season that sees those losses starting to mount.

No. 7 Duke pulled away with a 20-6 run midway through the second half and coasted to an 82-64 victory over Clemson in Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last game in Littlejohn Coliseum. Krzyzewski, who is retiring at the season’s end, saw the Blue Devils win their 20th game behind the 25 points and 11 rebounds from Trevor Keels.

Clemson was led by PJ Hall’s 17 points, while Chase Hunter added 13. Clemson falls to 12-12 overall and 4-9 in ACC play, while the Blue Devils improve to 20-4 overall and 10-3 in league play. Clemson has lost three in a row and seven of its last nine.

Duke led 9-6 early, then went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take an 18-6 lead, and it looked like the Blue Devils would run the Tigers out of the building. However, Alex Hemenway drilled a 3-pointer, starting an 8-0 run that ended with a dunk by Hall that made it 18-14.

Two minutes later, AJ Griffin hit a 3-pointer that put the Blue Devils back in front by 13 at 27-14 and Duke kept a working double-digit margin for most of the rest of the first half. With just a little over three minutes remaining in the half, Duke’s Wendell Moore, Jr., stole the ball from David Collins and appeared to be going in for a dunk or layup, but Collins raced in from behind and hit Moore like a linebacker would a wide receiver floating over the middle of the field, sending Moore to the floor in a heap.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski raced off the bench to check on Moore. In the meantime, Collins was called for a flagrant foul and was tossed from the game. Duke led 38-27 at intermission.

Clemson went on a 6-2 run early in the second half, trimming the Duke lead to just six at 43-37, and Al-Amir Dawes followed with a 3-pointer a minute later that made it 45-40 Duke with just over 16 minutes to play.

The next eight minutes were not kind to the Tigers as Duke went on a 20-6 run and Clemson’s offense went over three minutes at one stretch without a point. Naz Bohannon ended that run with a jumper, but Duke led 65-48 with just over eight minutes to play.

The Blue Devils coasted the rest of the way in securing the win.

Clemson returns to action Saturday – hosting a third league game in five days – when Notre Dame comes to town. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network and tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm. Clemson lost 72-56 to the Irish in South Bend in mid-January.

Here's how Clemson's announcers called that flagrant foul. (Duke's announcers apparently didn't see it; they thought he just fell awkwardly) pic.twitter.com/4vkWzzn1ke
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) February 11, 2022