Reactions to Duke Basketball’s Upset Loss to Clemson

Blue Devils fall 68-63 in tough loss to improved Clemson team.

It’s been a tough week for top ranked teams as 9th-ranked Duke joined Kansas, Maryland, and Miami as Top 10 teams that suffered a loss. Grayson Allen led the Blue Devils with 17 points, but it wasn’t enough against a tough Clemson team that has been a surprise in the ACC so far. Here are some of the things we took away from the game:

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The Atlantic Coast Conference will be extremely deep this year. Six teams are currently ranked in the Top 25 poll and Boston College is the only team in the conference with a losing record at this point in the season. Clemson has recently been a bottom-dweller in the conference, but the Tigers are currently in 3rd place in the ACC with wins over Florida State, Syracuse, Louisville, and now Duke, and will most likely be added to the next college basketball poll.

Foul trouble was one of the main issues for Duke in this game, with Brandon Ingram and Marshall Plumlee each playing with 4 for most of the second half and Chase Jeter fouling out in only 4 minutes. The Blue Devils don’t have the depth to handle so many players in foul trouble, especially Brandon Ingram who has played a key role offensively for the team. Ingram started off hot scoring 15 points in the first half, but only added 1 point in the second and missing all 3 of his shot attempts after being limited by foul trouble.

Duke also shot horribly from the free throw line whenever they got fouled. The team didn’t attempts a single free throw in the first half and finished the game making only 2-7 for 28.6%. Duke also missed several crucial foul shots late in the game as they were trying to come back which helped Clemson get the win.

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Another interesting thing to keep an eye on is that junior captain Matt Jones has gone cold in recent games, and finished with only 5 points in this game. After starting out the season playing consistently at a very high level, his production has dropped off in the last few games and missed a wide open three pointer in the closing seconds that would have tied the game and potentially gone to overtime. Jones plays a huge role for the Blue Devils defensively, but look for Coach K to get him more involved in the offense as the season continues to go on.

Finally, the team clearly missed Amile Jefferson in this game. The Blue Devils were out-rebounded 36-24 and allowed 10 offensive rebounds from Clemson. Earlier this season Jefferson was one of the few players in the country averaging a double-double and was leading the team in rebounds, and he definitely could have helped out on the boards today with Marshall Plumlee the only Duke player to grab more than 4 rebounds.

Duke will look to rebound from this loss as Notre Dame comes to Durham to take on the Blue Devils this weekend. The Fighting Irish are 10-5 and 1-2 in the ACC and will be looking for a signature win to improve their conference record and add to their NCAA Tournament resume.