Counting down the five defining wins for Duke basketball in 2023-24 season

No. 4: Duke 72 - Clemson 71

In late January, no one expected Clemson to be one of the stories of March. In fact, after falling to Duke 72-71 in Durham, the Tigers were just 3-5 in ACC play.

In hindsight, though, this was a rather impressive win for Duke. It was also one that almost didn't happen.

With one second left, the Blue Devils trailed by a point. That's when Tyrese Proctor toed the free-throw line where he would sink both attempts to give his team the win to keep alive a home winning streak over Clemson that stretches back almost three decades.

After a 9-0 start to the year, Clemson had been ranked as high as No. 13 before falling into a funk by the time this game rolled around. Still, the Tigers brought their best game to Durham and thanks to a 15-0 edge in second-chance points and a dominant day on the glass, they put a scare of epic proportions into the home team.

Meanwhile, Duke was in a stretch where it won eight of nine games after a bit of a wobble in mid-January. Of course, no one thought at the time that this win would prove to be as impressive as it did.

Clemson would shock everyone in the nation by reaching the Elite Eight this season before falling to Alabama. The Tigers proved to be a tough-minded and rugged team capable of beating almost anyone in the country and that's why this one-point escape at home is one of the defining wins of the season for the Blue Devils.