The last time the Blue Devils lost to an unranked opponent at home, the Duke campus also saw blizzard-like conditions. Four years ago, on Jan. 7, 1996, as Cameron Indoor Stadium was only half-full due to a winter break snowstorm, then unstoppable Georgia Tech freshman point guard Stephon Marbury lit Duke up for 25 second-half points after being held to just two in the first half to push Duke out of the national rankings.
On paper, there was potential for much the same type of matchup Saturday afternoon against unranked Clemson.
Clemson (7-13, 1-6 in ACC) traveled to Duke through sleet and snow armed with sophomore guard Will Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer, who averages 20.8 points per game and added 15 in the Tigers' upset over No. 21 N.C. State on Thursday night.
But in reality, there was no such magic for Clemson as it fell 93-59 to the No. 3 Blue Devils (16-2, 7-0). With the win, the Blue Devils now own a 58-game winning streak against unranked opponents, as well as extending both Duke's conference and home streaks to 29 and 45 games, respectively.
"The records don't matter and winning streaks don't matter when you play this game," senior Chris Carrawell said. "That's the way it is."
The most suspenseful moment for the fans came in the waning seconds of the first half as freshman Mike Dunleavy hefted a prayer from just inside the half-court line. The ball kissed the backboard and dropped just as the buzzer went off to put Duke up, 58-16. The first half's 58
"Everything went well for us," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We even banked one in at the end of the half. It was just one of those halves where everything was going well."
The game was in doubt only when Clemson took the opening tipoff and center Adam Allenspach sank a shot from the right corner to go up 2-0 on the Blue Devils.
Junior Shane Battier quickly tied the score 15 seconds later on a driving layup. Forward Chucky Gilmore fouled Battier on the play and the Birmingham, Mich., native put in the free throw to go ahead 3-2 with 19:30 remaining in the first half.
Duke never trailed again.
On the next possession, Solomon was forced out of bounds, beginning the string of 19 turnovers that would haunt the Tigers in the first half. Duke would eventually score 24 first-half points off of 19 Clemson turnovers.
It would take almost two minutes before Solomon would attempt his first shot with 17:34 left in the half. But instead of finding the bottom of the net as usual, he found Carrawell draped all over him.
Carrawell effectively shut Solomon down, as the sophomore went 0-for-7 from the floor in the first half. Carrawell also found the time to contribute a game-high 12 first-half points.
"[Solomon]'s a tough kid to guard and I thought our kids did a tough job in guarding him," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Carrawell was on him most of the time and I think a taller player like Carrawell who can move his feet [can guard him better]."
With Carrawell silencing the Tigers' star, Clemson coach Larry Shyatt looked to Allenspach, his second highest scorer, for leadership on the floor. The center accounted for half of the Tigers' eight points 11 minutes into the game when he fell to the floor, clutching his hip.
After Allenspach's exit, Duke built on a 14-point lead to punish Clemson on a 36-8 run that included an appearance by seldom-used 5-foot-10 point guard Andre Buckner in its final two-and-a-half minutes.
"I knew by the way things were going I might get to play," Buckner said. "So I was ready."
Krzyzewski substituted more liberally in the second half, which freed up Solomon to score 19 second-half points. Four separate times in the second half, he drained a three-pointer over the Blue Devil defense, but the Tigers never came within less than 34 points of Duke.
Carrawell finished with a game-high 20 points, followed by Battier and Jason Williams with 17 each. Matt Christensen also added six points and two rebounds in a rare moment of dominance and Dunleavy ended with 13 points on 20 minutes.
Yet this week's snow might have set back Duke.
"We wanted to make sure that no one would slip and break their ankle on the snow and that Casey Sanders would actually come out of his room after not seeing snow in so long," Krzyzewski said of how the snow-enforced week off affected the Tampa, Fla., native. "I promised him snow and he said by Tuesday, 'That's enough.'"
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