Duke wins, but UNC is still cream of the crop at least in Hubert Davis' eyes. It was a solid performance but not overwhelming by the Blue Devils. Andre Dawkins lead the way with 24 points and Miles Plumlee had 14 rebounds to lead the 15-2 (3-0 ACC) Blue Devils over Clemson 73-66.
On a day where most sports fans were busy watching NFL football the Blue Devils traveled to Little John Coliseum and started the way they ended the game versus UVA, slow.
Clemson took an early lead which they extended to nine. At that point Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled the starters barely a minute into the game. We have all seen this before, but instead of lighting a fire into the starters it enabled Andre Dawkins and Miles Plumlee to lead the way.
Duke was able to gradually get back into the game thanks in part to Dawkins shooting and a better effort on the glass and on defense.
The Blue Devils took a 32-28 lead into halftime and never looked back, though they did slow down a bit and showed some more signs that their end-of-game execution still needs some work.
Dawkins was on fire and Miles Plumlee was a rebounding giant. Despite a flagrant-one foul called on Miles after a great acting job by Tanner Smith of Clemson, Miles had a solid game.
The stat of the game came from another Plumlee as brother Mason Plumlee's went 4-4 from the free throw line. That's right 4-4.
No I'm really not joking he made four free throws on four attempts.
Clemson hung around for most of the game, even bringing it to within 4 points with under a minute to go. Duke had some clutch free throw shooting at the end and held off the upset minded Tigers.
Dawkins dunk late in the game that lead to a technical foul, would have normally have had Krzyzewski shaking his head, instead it lead to a "nice play" shout from the all time wins coach.
Overall a good team performance from the Blue Devils, though the half court offense seems shaky at times, Duke did handle the hostile crowd with relative ease and Dawkins sharp shooting helped keep them quiet.
On a side note though, the quote of the game probably came from ESPN commentator Hubert Davis.
Davis said that UNC is "clearly the best team (in the ACC)." Maybe he forgot about the crushing loss the Tar Heels received at the hands of the Flordia State Seminoles yesterday?
But if you are like me, I didn't. To make a statement like that when Duke is about to win and be solely in first place is, well, typical Carolina.
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