#4 Duke Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1 ACC) vs. #20 Clemson Tigers (20-5, 10-2 ACC)
Saturday, Feb. 14 • 12:00 p.m. ET
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, N.C.
TV: ESPN
Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD
The Blue Devils welcome in the Clemson Tigers in a battle of 2 of the ACC’s best teams in a noon-time top 25 matchup in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Broadcast Information TV
TV ESPN
Play-by-Play Dave O’Brien
Analyst Dick Vitale
Analyst Cory Alexander
Producer Kim Belton
Broadcast Information Radio
Radio Blue Devil Sports Network
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 84 & SiriusXM app
History
Overall Duke leads, 115-34
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 66-4
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 63-4
In Clemson, SC Duke leads, 39-26
at Littlejohn Coliseum Duke leads, 26-21
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 10-4
Last Meeting @Clemson 77, Duke 71 (Feb. 8, 2025)
Coaches
Duke Jon Scheyer (Duke ‘10)
Career Record / at Duke 111-24 (4th) / same
vs. Clemson 1-2
Clemson Brad Brownell (DePauw, ‘91)
Career Record / at School 479-286 (24th) / 312-201 (16th)
vs. Duke 5-14
Clemson Tigers
Clemson enters the weekend with a 20-5 record overall and 10-2 in conference. The Tigers are currently ranked 20th in the AP Poll and led by Coach Brad Brownell, who’s in his 16th season at the helm. Clemson is ranked 20th in the Associated Press top-25 poll while being ranked No. 18 in the USA Today coaches poll. The Tigers are second in the league and 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 64.6 points per game. Clemson leads the ACC and ranks 26th in the nation in bench scoring with 31.4 points per game.
Eight Tigers average at least 5.3 points per game, including three scoring in double figures. Senior forward RJ Godfrey leads the Tigers at 11.6 points per game; he also averages 5.1 rebounds per contest. Second in scoring, Carter Welling is at 10.4 points per game and 5.7 rebounds to lead the team. Justin Porter rounds out the double-figure scorers for Clemson at 10.3 points per game. Guard Dillon Hunter scores 7.8 points per game and leads the team in assists at 3 per game.
Last Time Out:
Clemson University men’s basketball fell to Virginia Tech 76-66 on Wednesday night in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers (20-5, 10-2 ACC) were led by Carter Welling (Draper, Utah/Corner Canyon/Utah Valley), who scored a season-high 19 points and even returned after briefly exiting the game due to an ankle injury.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils enter the week with a 22-2 overall record and an 11-1 record in conference. Clemson marks the 10th nationally ranked opponent for the Blue Devils. Duke and Clemson have the ACC’s top-scoring defenses, allowing less than 65 points/game. Duke is No. 3 in NET rankings and is tied as the national leader with 10 Quad-1 wins. (Feb. 12) Duke has secured top-25 victories over No. 7 Michigan State, No. 15 Florida, No. 20 Louisville (twice), No. 22 Arkansas, No. 24 SMU, and No. 25 Kansas. Duke is one of four teams ranked in the top 10 nationally in both offensive efficiency (125.6, 9th) and defensive efficiency (89.9, 3rd) ratings. (KenPom) The Blue Devils lead the ACC and are seventh nationally in scoring margin (+19.4). Duke tops the conference and ranks eighth in the country in rebounding margin (+10.0). The Blue Devils rank sixth in the nation and first in the ACC in scoring defense (63.5 ppg).
Cameron Boozer is the nation’s fifth-leading scorer with an ACC-high 23.0 points per game and tops the ACC in rebounding (10.0 rpg), is eighth in steals (1.8 spg), 13th in assists (4.0 apg), and fourth in field goal percentage (.578). Isaiah Evans leads the ACC in free-throw percentage (.883) and is the ACC’s 10th-leading scorer in conference play, averaging 16.8 points per league game. Evans and Patrick Ngongba both are averaging double figures for Jon Scheyer’s team at 14.3 and 10.7 points per game overall, respectively.
Last Time Out:
No. 4 Duke held Pittsburgh to just 25 second-half points en route to a 70-54 victory on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the Petersen Events Center. The Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1 ACC) limited the Panthers (9-16, 2-10 ACC) to a season-low scoring output at home. Isaiah Evans led all scorers with 21 points, fueled by a 5-of-6 night from deep. Cameron Boozer tallied his 13th double-double of the season, with 17 points and 10 boards, while Caleb Foster contributed across the board with 14 points, five assists, and a career-high eight rebounds. Ngongba is also averaging 6.2 rebounds per game.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 24 | 40.0 | 29.0 | 58.2 | .499 | 20.3 | 32.7 | .622 | 8.7 | 25.5 | .341 | 16.1 | 22.5 | .716 | 12.0 | 27.8 | 39.7 | 16.9 | 8.3 | 3.5 | 11.1 | 15.8 | 82.9 |
| Clemson | 25 | 40.4 | 26.0 | 55.9 | .466 | 17.8 | 32.2 | .554 | 8.2 | 23.7 | .346 | 15.4 | 21.2 | .723 | 9.4 | 26.0 | 35.5 | 13.0 | 6.4 | 2.5 | 9.9 | 16.2 | 75.6 |
Stats Comparison Conference
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 12 | 40.0 | 28.1 | 56.8 | .494 | 20.5 | 33.6 | .610 | 7.6 | 23.3 | .326 | 14.8 | 20.3 | .733 | 10.2 | 24.4 | 34.6 | 15.3 | 8.7 | 2.5 | 10.6 | 14.7 | 78.6 |
| Clemson | 12 | 40.4 | 25.0 | 52.5 | .476 | 17.1 | 30.3 | .563 | 7.9 | 22.2 | .357 | 13.3 | 19.0 | .702 | 5.8 | 23.2 | 28.9 | 11.2 | 6.7 | 2.4 | 9.6 | 16.1 | 71.3 |
Projected Starters
Duke Blue Devils
G Caleb Foster 6’5, 205lbs Jr.
G Isaiah Evans 6’6, 180lbs So.
G Dame Sarr 6’8, 190lbs Fr.
F Cameron Boozer 6’9, 250lbs Fr.
C Maliq Brown 6’9, 225lbs Sr.
Clemson Tigers
G Jestin Porter 6’1, 180lbs Gr.
G Dillon Hunter 6’3, 195lbs Sr.
F RJ Godfrey 6’7, 240lbs Sr.
F Jake Wahlin 6’10, 210lbs Jr.
F Carter Welling 6’11, 240lbs Jr.
Final Thoughts
This matchup pits two very defensive-minded teams against one another. The tale of this game will most likely come down to which offense clicks. Duke may be without their 3rd leading scorer, Pat Ngongba but that determination has yet to be made. Offensively, Clemson plays at a much slower tempo, which means Duke has to be prepared to play defense well into the shot clock versus this team. Offensively for Duke, if they can generate fast break opportunities off of Clemson misses or turnovers, they can make this game much easier for themselves. The Blue Devils have to defend without fouling. Clemson has a deep bench, and Brownell has no issue with bringing in fresh bodies—the slower pace that Clemson plays at ironically may help Duke in that regard, but silly fouls that were committed against Pitt will not fly against Clemson.