Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski summed it up in a few words: "It was kind of a weird game, there were just some strange things."
That was how the Blue Devils (6-0, 1-0 in the ACC) took a 96-80 win over the Clemson Tigers (5-2, 0-1) Sunday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke's defense was on and off during the game. Clemson had strong perimeter pressure from junior guard Edward Scott, who kept the Blue Devils to under a 10-point lead as the first half concluded. There was a lack of runs on both sides, which made for a choppy and lengthy game.
Offensively, forward Chris Hobbs scored 13 of the Tigers' first-half points. He finished with 23 on the night, tying Carlos Boozer for the game high. The freshman's inside presence gave the Blue Devils some defensive hard times. Clemson showed strength inside and often looked to Hobbs in the paint. For Duke's part, Jason Williams did not make his first field goal until six minutes into the first half and was 0-for-5 in three-point attempts.
"We feel good about playing well enough to secure our first ACC win," Krzyzewski said. "But it's obvious we're going to have to play better than that."
In the first eight minutes of the second half, Duke stepped up the defense
Then Boozer really picked up his game. He had six field goals in the first half and 17 in the second. Sunday night marked his third consecutive 20-point game.
"For about a 10-minute stretch in the second half I thought we played really good defense," Krzyzewski said. "That gave us that working margin. Then it became turnover... foul... then some sloppy play."
Throughout the game, Duke also took advantage of several Clemson mistakes, scoring 32 points off turnovers. Ray Henderson, the Tigers' center, fouled out with 7:19 left in the game. He scored only six points in the contest.
Daniel Ewing was also a bright spot for the Blue Devils. The freshman came off the bench Sunday night and played 20 minutes. He scored 14 points, tallied three offensive rebounds and went 2-for-3 in three-point attempts. Chris Duhon also had a strong game, playing for 38 minutes and finishing with 13 points.
Nine minutes into the second half on the offensive end of the court, Duhon faked and passed the ball to Dahntay Jones, who then made a layup that caught the Tigers off guard. The Blue Devils made several similar shots, which kept the Clemson defense guessing.
Clemson played well offensively, with 16 offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points. The only player to remain on the floor for the full 40 minutes, Edward Scott, finished with only 11 points, but most were key plays.
"Scott just came down and shot right in our face," Krzyzewski said. "[Tony] Stockman did the same thing. They were playing with a lot of energy. They came in here 5-1 and were very positive, which was how they played the entire game. We were a little sluggish--I don't know what it is. Rebounding was not good, we just couldn't grab the ball."
For the first ACC game of the season, the Blue Devils did not look like themselves Sunday night. They took the win, but it was only unranked Clemson that they had to face. To repeat as the national championship coach, Krzyzewski made it clear that his team was going to have to step up and increase intensity over the next few weeks.
"If you have high standards, you want to play real well and we're not going to be happy unless we're playing at that level. And I don't think we should be," Krzyzewski said. "I am not happy at this point."
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