Unless you’re Hannah Montana or Duke, it’s not supposed to be possible to have the “best of both worlds.” Not only did the Blue Devils triumph in Wallace Wade Stadium during their football preseason game, but they also managed to keep the Tigers at bay at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke wins 2-0.
Head coach Jon Scheyer commented, “All I know is I’m proud of my team, man,” following the match.
On Saturday afternoon, the Blue Devils, who are ranked 12th, welcomed Clemson to Durham. The result of the whiplash battle was uncertain until the very end. Duke, though, prevailed 72–71.
With 2:19 remaining, Clemson had taken a four-point lead once more, and center PJ Hall of the team was belting out the Miley Cyrus song at Cameron Indoor.
With a steal of the ball from the Tigers and a layup courtesy of Jared McCain, the following Duke point caused a commotion in Cameron Indoor.
Would it suffice?
There were 19.2 seconds remaining, and Duke was behind by two points. Scheyer prompted a pause.
Jeremy Roach, a senior guard, tossed the ball in. It was discovered by Kyle Filipowski. After tying the score with a layup, he headed to the free-throw line for a and-one. He succeeded, but Clemson still held possession of the ball with fifteen seconds remaining.
Scheyer described Filipowski’s play as “probably the biggest play of the game.”
Head coach of Clemson Brad Brownell requested a timeout for himself. Filipowski fouled and was fouled out after Hall drove. As the stadium erupted into an even greater scream, Hall took his first foul shot and stood at the line. He gave himself a neck crack, inhaled, and made the second one as well.
Before Josh Beadle fouled him, Tyrese Proctor had been running through the Tigers’ defense like a man on his most important mission for seven seconds. He knotted the score with his first free throw.
“I was just talking to myself, knowing I was gonna make both of them,” Proctor recalled.
The game was won by his second.
“I’m the best free-throw shooter in the country,” he stated.
“I just told him he got it,” Scheyer remarked. “And he uttered,
The Cameron Crazies became a little louder and Duke (15-4, 6-2 in the ACC) a little tougher in the eleventh minute of the game. A three-point display from McCain and Proctor gave it its first lead since the game’s start. As the Tigers passed the ball around the court, the latter grabbed it, sent it to the other side, and then created a situation where McCain could get an assist. The next update on the scoreboard came from Proctor’s downtown delivery after Clemson fumbled the ball.
Three minutes later, he scored another three, and a third just seconds after that. Duke suddenly established a 29-20 advantage against the Tigers (13-6, 3-5), and Brownell was forced to call a timeout.
The main reason Duke was able to maintain that lead for so long was undoubtedly Hall, or more accurately, the fact that Hall was not present throughout ACC play. On Saturday afternoon, the 6-foot-10 South Carolina native—who leads the Tigers in scoring, blocks, and steals—just wasn’t himself. In addition to missing rebounds and shoots, he did not perform well in blocking. Hall shot 2-for-6 from the floor in the first half, but Filipowski kept him to only seven points.
Midway through the second half, Filipowski was fouled for the fourth time, moving to the bench, leaving graduate center Ryan Young and Hall by themselves. Soon later, Filipowski returned to the game, but it seemed like Hall had settled into a rhythm during his absence. He had 13 points of an eventual 19 at that point and was actively getting in Filipowski’s way.