Banged-Up Duke Basketball Totally Tames Tigers at ACC Tournament

After squeaking out an 80-79 win over the No. 8 seed Florida State Seminoles on Thursday night, Jon Scheyer’s top-ranked and No. 1 seed Duke basketball team took care of business once again in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center. This go-round, though, Scheyer’s fourth batch of Blue Devils advanced to the ACC Tournament championship bout with a tough-minded 73-61 semifinal victory over the No. 5 seed Clemson Tigers on Friday night.

The Blue Devils and Tigers exchanged blows often via back-and-forth buckets in the early going, battling to the tune of seven lead changes and four ties across the first 10 minutes and change in the first half. But Duke put together a 10-0, courtesy of a 3-point splash from sophomore guard Darren Harris sandwiched between driving scores by freshman guard Cayden Boozer and two free throws from sophomore wing Isaiah Evans, enjoying a 29-18 lead with under five minutes to play in the half.

Six members of shorthanded Duke’s seven-man rotation – junior guard Caleb Foster (right foot fracture) and sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II (right foot soreness) were ruled for the entire ACC Tournament – scored in the first half: freshman power forward Cameron Boozer (12 points), Cayden Boozer (nine), freshman forward Nikolas Khamenia (eight), Isaiah Evans (four), freshman guard Dame Sarr (four), and Darren Harris (three).

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Behind the Boozer twins’ combined 22 points between the first 20 minutes, the Blue Devils took a 41-22 halftime advantage into the locker room. So, that duo’s first-half scoring total matched that of veteran ACC head coach Brownell’s entire Clemson squad, which went without a field in the final 7:44 ahead of the break.

Duke Basketball Executes Smoothly in Second Half

Scheyer’s Blue Devils seized a 49-29 lead at the 15:15 mark in the second half after Cameron Boozer knocked down an open three. And although the Tigers continued to claw, they never quite cut their deficit to single digits, as Duke delivered timely answers with driving baskets…

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Publish date : 2026-03-14 03:42:00

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