Duke’s Cooper Flagg dunks against Clemson during the first half of their Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday in Clemson, S.C. Scott Kinser/Associated Press
CLEMSON, S.C. — Viktor Lakhin scored 22 points, Clemson held player of the year candidate Cooper Flagg in check for most of the game, and the Tigers defeated No. 2 Duke 77-71 on Saturday night to snap the Blue Devils’ 16-game winning streak.
Chase Hunter scored 14 points and Ian Schieffelin added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Clemson (19-5, 11-2 ACC). The Tigers ended the Blue Devils’ chances of an unbeaten regular season in the Atlantic Coast Conference and denied the Blue Devils (20-3, 12-1) an opportunity to take over the top ranking in the country for the first time in the coach Jon Scheyer era.
No. 1 Auburn lost 90-81 to No. 6 Florida earlier in the day, opening the door for Duke to claim the top spot with a win.
Tyrese Proctor scored 23 points and Flagg had 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting for Duke.
Clemson trailed by six at halftime but used a 12-0 run in the second half to take a 56-49 lead with just under 10 minutes to go.
Hunter sealed the win by blocking Proctor’s layup with 7.9 seconds left.
Takeaways
Duke: The Blue Devils’ depth was impacted with Mason Gillis missing his second straight game because of an illness. Flagg had just four points in the first 34 minutes.
Clemson: The Tigers showed plenty of grit, bouncing back from an 89-86 triple-overtime loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. Clemson also beat then-No. 4 Kentucky at home in December.
Key moment
Flagg’s slip on a wet spot proved costly with 14 seconds left, resulting in a huge turnover with the Blue Devils trailing by two.
Key stat
Clemson won despite making just 13 of 22 free throws.
Up next
Duke hosts California on Wednesday night. Clemson hosts North Carolina on Monday night.
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