Cooper Flagg slips in key moment as Clemson shocks No. 2 Duke 77-71

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.

Flagg’s slip proved costly with 14 seconds left, resulting in a huge turnover with the Blue Devils trailing by two.

According to Fox Sports Research, this was the highest-ranked win for Clemson since the Tigers beat No. 1 UNC in 2001. Before Saturday, Clemson had lost 16 straight games against opponents ranked in the AP top two. It was also the Tigers’ fifth straight win against an AP top-five opponent, the longest active streak in the country.

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 had 23 points and Flagg had 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting for Duke (20-3, 12-1). 

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 with an illness. Flagg had just four points in the first 34 minutes of the game.

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 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.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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