The Clemson Tigers were undeniably the surprise of the ACC this season, going 20-5 overall and 10-2 against conference opponents before heading to Durham to take on the usually dominant Duke Blue Devils.
Despite being within five points of Duke at halftime, the Tigers quickly saw the game slip away as Cameron Boozer and the rest of the Blue Devils dominated the second half.
Afterward, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell pleaded for the team not to forget about the Tigers after they had lost two in a row: the 13-point loss to Duke and a 10-point loss to the unranked Virginia Tech Hokies.
Clemson tanking at worst time possible as Duke gets back on track
"Don't forget who we are and why we've had success," Brownell said in his postgame press conference. "We're not as gifted, I think, as some of the teams at the top of the league... But we’ve had a lot of success. Let’s not let a bad week derail us."
The Blue Devils, of course, were just two games removed from their last-second upset at the hands of the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, Duke quickly recovered and dominated the Pitt Panthers (winning 70-54) before hosting the Tigers.
Meanwhile, Clemson had lost just one conference game (a four-point loss to NC State) before falling to Virginia Tech 76-66 and then to the Blue Devils.
While Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils are continuing to find success, despite a hiccup in the middle of ACC play, Brownell and the Tigers are on rocky ground as March flies into focus.
Clemson MBB coach Brad Brownell on the message after back-to-back ACC losses to VT/Duke: “Don’t forget who we are.” Says the Tigers’ margins are small because they’re “not as gifted” as other teams in the ACC. “But we’ve had a lot of success. Let’s not let a bad week derail us” pic.twitter.com/M1LymhK34X
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) February 14, 2026
Of course, Scheyer only had great things to say about Clemson, even crediting the Tigers with keeping the game close despite Duke's double-digit victory.
"I've coached three games against Clemson as a head coach, and every game's gone down to the wire. That shows our respect for them," Scheyer said. "We knew that middle stretch in the second half was going to be big."
Duke outscored Clemson by eight points in the second half, holding the Tigers to just 28 points in the final 20 minutes, even as bench players rotated into the game and the usual suspects got to rest their legs.
Up next, the Blue Devils face the Syracuse Orange before taking on the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. ET.