Cameron Boozer produced a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 4 Duke to a 67-54 victory against No. 20 Clemson in a key Atlantic Coast Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C.
Isaiah Evans scored 17 points and Cayden Boozer added 12 for the Blue Devils (23-2, 12-1 ACC), who pulled away early in the second half courtesy of a strong defensive performance. Duke has won back-to-back games since last weekend's last-second loss at North Carolina.
Carter Welling (12 points) and RJ Godfrey (10 points) paced Clemson (20-6, 10-3), which began the week with a chance to move atop the ACC standings. Instead, the Tigers suffered an upset loss to Virginia Tech on Wednesday at home before losing on Duke's home floor for the 22nd time in a row dating back to 1996.
Clemson finished at 35.1% from the field, including 6-for-24 on 3-point attempts.
Cooper Flagg, the National Player of the Year as a Duke freshman last season, was among those in attendance at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He saw the Blue Devils made 10 3-pointers for their first double-figure total since Jan. 10 vs. SMU.
Duke scored the first eight points of the second half -- five from Evans -- for a 38-26 lead. The margin grew to 52-31 as Clemson missed its first six shots of the second half and went just 2-for-15 in the first eight-plus minutes of the second half.
Duke made five 3-point shots in the game's first 13 minutes while Clemson was 0-for-4 at that juncture. But the Blue Devils were aiming for perimeter production, taking 17 of their first 23 shots from beyond the arc.
Duke stretched its lead to 28-20 on Evans' 3-pointer with 3:58 left in the half, which forced Clemson to call timeout. The Tigers pulled within 31-26 by halftime despite 1-for-9 shooting on 3-point tries.
Duke center Patrick Ngongba II, whose status had been in doubt because of a wrist injury, started but played only four first-half minutes after picking up two fouls. He finished with six points and six rebounds in 19 minutes.
--Field Level Media
