CLEMSON, S.C. - If the Duke basketball team were to enter the world of professional wrestling, it would likely bring back the memory of a certain face-painting, mohawk-wearing tag team of yesteryear: the Road Warriors.
Despite a valiant effort by Clemson, the Blue Devils extended their ACC-record road winning streak to 19 games, holding off numerous Tiger runs and connecting on 18-of-22 free throws in the final 2:31 for a 92-78 victory in Littlejohn Coliseum.
"I thought our guys fought really hard tonight," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I'm really proud of our team. To go through the ACC and be 8-0 on the road is amazing. It's all about those kids; what a great, great job they have done this year."
After Will Solomon buried a three-pointer to cut Duke's lead to 27-22 with 6:35 to play in the first half, the Blue Devils answered with an 11-0 run over the next 3:46 to open up a 16-point bulge.
"The first half, especially the last eight minutes when we got that margin, was probably the best eight minutes for us in the game," Krzyzewski said. "We were so efficient."
The run started with a Matt Christensen offensive rebound and put-back of a Chris Carrawell miss. Shane Battier, who led Duke with 26, then converted
After an intentional foul by Clemson's Dustin Braddick on Carrawell, Battier received the ensuing inbounds pass in the corner and drained his sixth basket from behind the arc, giving the Blue Devils a 38-22 lead with 2:49 until intermission.
"I could joke that in the 1997 McDonald's game, I won the three-point shooting contest," Battier said. "I claim that I always had it, but I like to incorporate it."
Duke began the second half looking as if it would pull away from the Tigers and cruise to an easy victory. But much like an itchy rash, Clemson would not go away.
The Blue Devils scored the first four points after halftime to open their largest lead at 49-29. The Tigers answered with a 14-5 spurt of their own to shrink the deficit to 11 with 14:16 to play.
The second half continued with this pattern of Clemson making a slight run and Duke answering with a spurt of its own. Jason Williams led the Blue Devil attack in the second half, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
When Nate James converted a lay up following his own miss with 4:47 to play to put Duke up 71-53, it appeared that the drama was over. But Solomon
The ACC's leading scorer dissected the Duke defense with outside jumpers and deep penetration into the lane, helping his team claw its way back into the game.
With Carlos Boozer having already fouled out and the loss of James to fouls for the final 2:53, seldom-used Andre Buckner came off the thin Duke bench for his first action of the night.
After two missed free throws by Williams, Clemson had the ball only down eight points, 79-71, with just under two minutes left to play.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Buckner got his hands on an errant pass from Solomon and was quickly fouled. Despite missing two free throws earlier, Buckner stepped to the line and nailed both charity shots, quelling any hopes of a Clemson late game rally.
"Andre Buckner, for a kid who hasn't played much, to come in and hit free throws, but get open against the press," Krzyzewski said. "And he made one sensational defensive play.
"[Down the stretch, we had] sensational free throw shooting.... It seemed like there were four or five different guys shooting free throws.
"In order to be an outstanding team, you've got to do those things. That game pressure you can't practice...."
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