Clemson Hosts #3 Duke In Littlejohn This Wednesday At 9:00 PM

Feb. 5, 2001

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Clemson vs. Duke Series Duke has beaten Clemson 10 consecutive games, four of the 10 are by seven points or less. The Blue Devils defeated Clemson three times in 1997-98 and three times last year. In 1997-98, the three losses were by a combined seven points two years ago. Clemson nearly overcame a 24-point deficit in the second half before falling at Duke in 1997-98, 81-80. Clemson had a pair of shots to win inside the last five seconds against the #2 ranked Blue Devils. Duke has a 88-28 lead in the series, including a 50-4 margin in Durham. Coach K has a 19-2 record against Clemson in games at Duke, but just 12-8 in Littlejohn Coliseum. He is 34-10 overall against the Tigers.

Last Outing vs. Duke Duke 115, Clemson 74 Jan. 7, 2001 at Durham, NC

Duke’s starting front line of Carlos Boozer (25), Nate James (21) and Shane Battier (21) all scored at least 20 points in leading Duke to a 115-74 win over Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 7. It was the 50th win in 54 tries for Duke over Clemson in Durham. The Duke point total was the most against Clemson in 31 years. Duke shot 54.5 percent from the field and had 27 assists on 36 baskets as the Blue Devils ran their offense to perfection. They made just 1 of their first 8 three-point attempts, but finished by making 10 of their last 22. Duke had 14 steals, leading to 22 Clemson turnovers.

Clemson was led in scoring by Tony Stockman, who scored 22 points off the bench. The freshman had a season-best six three-point goals in 12 attempts. Will Solomon was held to 13 points, he got just 12 shots in the contest, making five. It broke his streak of six straight games of at least 20 points, but it gave him 44 consecutive games of scoring in double figures. Dustin Braddick had his first double figure scoring game of the year with 10 points, while Edward Scott added 10 points and four assists against just two turnovers. Clemson had a 7-5 lead early, but the Blue Devils went on a 11-0 run to take a 16-7 lead at the 15:22 mark. Duke had an 18-0 run from the 11:23 mark to the 5:48 mark to take a commanding 42-12 lead. It was 56-27 at intermission.

Duke expanded the lead to 44 points at 75-31 by the 15:47 mark of the second half. Boozer was outstanding on the inside for the Blue Devils. Clemson actually went on a 24-7 run to cut the advantage to 27 with 9:21 mark. But, that was as close as Clemson got as the Blue Devils continued to hit three-point shots down the stretch.

Last Meeting at Littlejohn Duke 92, Clemson 78 March 1, 2000

Shane Battier scored 26 points, including 20 in the first half thanks to six three-point goals, leading Duke to a 92-78 victory over Clemson on March 1, 2000. Duke, ranked fourth in the nation in both polls coming in, ran its record to 23-4 with the win. The Blue Devils out-rebounded Clemson 40-36, just the fifth time Clemson had been out-rebounded for the 1999-00 season.

Will Solomon led Clemson with 26 points, six rebounds and a career high nine assists. He played all 40 minutes. Solomon received support as three Tigers scored in double figures. Freshman Edward Scott had 11 points on 4-5 shooting, while Adam Allenspach added 11 points and six rebounds. Freshman Ray Henderson scored 10 and led the Tigers in rebounding with seven in a productive 19 minutes.

Clemson shot 46 percent from the field for the game, including 18-36 in the second half. The Tigers shot 9-22 from three-point range, 40.9 percent. Clemson’s 9-19 free throw shooting was a disappointment. Battier was on fire in the first half. The junior made six consecutive three-point shots at one juncture and scored all 20 of his first half points in an 11-minute span. He led Duke to a 45-29 lead at halftime.

The Blue Devils advanced the lead to 20 points in the second half and still had an 18-point lead with five minutes to go. But, Clemson shot the ball well down the stretch and cut the lead to eight points four times. But, Duke made its last 11 free throws of the game, and Andre Buckner made a key steal with a minute left as the Tigers were striving to cut the margin to six points.

Tigers Face Buckner For 122 consecutive games between 1994-98 Greg Buckner was in the Clemson starting lineup, the longest streak in Clemson history. Buckner finished his career fourth in school history in scoring with 1754 points. He tied the school record for double figure scoring games with 97, and also finished third in playing time, third in steals and second in field goal made.

This Wednesday, his brother, Andre, will be playing against the Tigers. Andre Buckner is a reserve guard for Duke and the freshman has played 16 minutes in 7 games so far this year. He is yet to score this year.

Older brother Greg is doing well with the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA. He was injured earlier this year and missed six weeks of the season, but has averaged 7 points and five rebounds as a reserve this year.

Last Game Maryland 69, Clemson 54 Feb. 4, 2001 at College Park, MD

Maryland outscored Clemson 15-4 over the last 6:12 of the game and went on to a 69-54 victory over Clemson on Feb. 4, 2001 at College Park. It was the first game of the second half of the ACC schedule for both teams. Clemson had cut the margin against the ninth-ranked Terps to just four points at that 6:12 mark of the game.

Clemson was led in scoring by Will Solomon, who tallied 19, the only double figure scorer for the Tigers. Freshman Tony Stockman added nine points, while Tomas Nagys contributed seven points and a career high nine rebounds. Maryland was led by Terence Morris, who scored 18 points, eight less than he had scored at Clemson on Jan. 2 in Maryland’s 104-92 victory. Two other Terps had double-doubles. Lonny Baxter had 14 points and 13 rebounds, while guard Juan Dixon had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Point guard Steve Blake had 12 points and five assists.

Clemson shot just 30.5 percent from the field, its worst shooting performance for the year, and committed 18 turnovers to just 12 by Maryland. Maryland also had a +7 rebound margin (47-40), but Clemson had a 37-36 lead in that category at the five-minute mark. Maryland won the game inside, outscoring Clemson 30-6 in points in the paint. But, the Tigers defended well, allowing just a 40.6 shooting percentage by Gary Williams’s team, which came into the game as the third best scoring team in the nation. Maryland’s shooting included just 7-21 three-point shots. The 69 points scored were the fewest by the Maryland team this year.

While Clemson made just 30.5 percent from the field overall, the Tigers did make 11-29 three-point shots, 38 percent. The Tigers were actually 11 of their first 24, as they missed their last five while trying to play catch-up in the final minutes. That meant, Clemson made just 7-30 inside the arc for the game, a 23 percent figure, and a testimony to Maryland’s interior defense. The Terps blocked 10 Clemson shots. Clemson also made 7-8 free throws, the fifth straight game Clemson has made at least 70 percent from the foul line.

The game was the opposite of the first meeting between the two teams from an offensive standpoint. The two teams combined for 55 points in the first half on Feb. 4, fewer than each team scored in the first half (59-56, Maryland) of the game at Clemson back in January. Maryland held just a 10-6 lead at the 12:10 mark of the first half. At that point Clemson was just 2-13 from the field, while Maryland was 5-19. But, Maryland went on an 18-5 run over the next 6:13 of the game and took a 28-11 lead on a three- point play by Steve Wilcox. That would be Maryland’s largest lead of the game, however. Will Solomon scored eight of Clemson’s first 11 points during the first 14 minutes of the game. But, other Tigers finally got into the scoring column. Pasha Bains, Edward Scott and Dwon Clifton all hit three-point goals over the final four minutes of the half, bringing Clemson to within 33-22 at intermission.

Maryland went on a 6-0 run to open the second half to get the lead back to 17 points (39-22) at the 18:19 mark. It was still a 14-point Maryland lead at the 8:47 mark when Clemson went on a 13-3 run. Nagys began the comeback with his first career three-point goal. The sophomore forward who got considerable playing time when Chris Hobbs fouled out early in the second half, also had five second-half rebounds to key Clemson’s second half performance. Tony Stockman also hit a three-point goal and Will Solomon’s pull-up three off a secondary break brought Clemson to within 54-50 at the 6:12 mark. Gary Williams called timeout and Maryland immediately went on a 6-0 run. Clemson had played an effective zone defense for most of the game, but the Terps finally found a way to get the ball to Morris and Baxter on the inside. Clemson scored just four points the last 6:12 of the game and Maryland came away with the victory.

Nagys Played Best Game at Maryland Sophomore forward Tomas Nagys played his finest all-around game as a Clemson Tiger in the loss at Maryland on Feb. 4. The 6-9 forward scored seven points and had a career-high nine rebounds against Maryland’s strong frontline of Lonny Baxter and Terence Morris. He also had two blocked shots and three steals, best by a Tiger in the game, for his 27 minutes of play.

The point total included his first career three-point goal, he had missed the first six attempts of his career. Nagys was praised by Head Coach Tomas Nagys played very hard and very well against an excellent Maryland frontline. Time and again he battled for rebounds and went to the floor many times. He set a tone that the rest of the team picked up in terms of hustle.”

For the season, Nagys has 67 rebounds, but is now third on the team in rebounds per minute. He collects a rebound every 3.36 minutes he is in the game, second only to Chris Hobbs average of one every 2.90 minutes of play. Nagys previous rebound best was eight at Duke last year.

Clemson Has 11 Wins over Ranked Duke Teams Clemson has defeated a top 20 Duke team 11 times in its history, more than any other school. Clemson has 10 ranked wins over Maryland and nine apiece over N.C. State and North Carolina.

Clemson has upset a top 20 Duke team six times in the last 13 years, with the last victory coming in 1996-97 at Clemson, an 86-82 overtime win over a 10th-ranked Duke team. That was the third year in a row that Clemson defeated a top 20 Duke team. Clemson also defeated a top 10 Duke team three years in a row between 1988-90. Dale Davis and Elden Campbell were common denominators on those teams. The 1990 victory clinched the ACC regular season championship for the Tigers. Duke enters this game ranked in the top five in the nation. Clemson has 14 wins over top 5 ranked teams in its history with the last coming in 1996-97 against third-ranked Kentucky in a game played in the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Clemson’s last win over a top five team at Clemson took place in 1993-94 when Clemson upset a second-ranked North Carolina team.

Clemson’s top victory in history was an 87-82 win over Duke on Jan. 9, 1980. Duke was ranked number-one in the nation at the time and it remains Clemson’s only men’s basketball victory over the number-one ranked team.

Clemson has defeated at least on top 25 team 14 years in a row, but has yet to do so this year. Clemson is 0-8 against ranked teams so far this season.

Clemson Wins over Ranked Duke Teams

Loss of Allenspach Has Had Impact Clemson has been without the services of starting center Adam Allenspach for most of the last nine games, all against conference foes. Clemson’s only senior on the roster has played just 48 minutes in three conference games, and he has not seen any action since the North Carolina game in Chapel Hill on Jan. 17. The 7-1 center, who has played 110 games in his Clemson career, has missed time due to inflammation of the Sacroilliac Joint (where hip meets the spine). The problem caused back spasms and a loss of motion and mobility. Allenspach had six double-doubles within the first nine games of the season and was leading the ACC in that category as the Tigers ran to a 7-2 start. He was averaging 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for the first nine games. But, he started to have back trouble in the tournament in Puerto Rico. He then missed Clemson’s first game after Christmas against Charleston Southern. Since Christmas he has played just 59 minutes.

In addition to scoring and rebounding, Allenspach has an impact on the defensive end. Although he is not a big shot blocker, he plays strong post defense and the proof is in the statistics of the opposition. Last year, with Allenspach playing all but one game, opposing starting centers shot just 45.5 percent from the field, averaged just 5.4 rebounds and 6.3 points per game. Only six games did an opposing starting center score in double figures, only once (Lonnie Baxter) did an opposing starting center score more than 15 points.

For the first 13 games this year the trend continued. With Allenspach in the lineup, opposing centers connected on just 43.8 percent from the field and averaged just 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. But, in the last nine games, with Allenspach playing just 48 total minutes, opposing starting centers have connected on 63 percent of their field goals (44-70), averaged 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Three times the opposing starting center has reached 24 points or more during this time. Only twice in the first 13 games this year did the opposing starting center score in double figures. For the season, Allenspach is still third on the club in scoring and first in rebounding per game. He has averaged 10.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest and leads the team in blocked shots with 12. The rebounding average is still eighth in the league, but he will drop out of the stats this week because he won’t have enough games played.

Hobbs Scores 28 vs. Virginia While Chris Hobbs has been a strong rebounder, he has also been a solid inside scorer at times this year. That was never as obvious as the Virginia game of Jan. 27. In that contest, Hobbs scored a season high 28 points on 10-13 shooting from the field and 8-9 shooting from the foul line. That was the most points in a game by a Clemson freshman since 1995-96 when Terrell McIntyre scored 29. It was the most points by a Clemson freshman front court player since the 1982-83 season when Anthony Jenkins scored 30 against Duke. Hobbs is now averaging 9.6 points in conference games, 8.6 overall. He is third on the team in scoring in conference games and first in rebounding in league contests. Overall, he is fourth in scoring and second in rebounding on the Clemson team. His 52.2 percent field goal accuracy is second best behind Ray Henderson’s 53.7.

Tickets Available for Clemson’s Final Four Home Games Tickets are still available for Clemson’s final four home games of the 2001 season. Three of the four opponents are ranked in the top 15 in the nation, including top-ranked North Carolina and fourth-ranked Duke. A top 15 Wake Forest team also will be coming to Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Blue Devils come to Clemson on Feb. 7 for a 9:00 PM Wednesday evening affair that will be televised by ESPN. The Tar Heels will be at Clemson for a Sunday afternoon (4:00 PM) tilt on Feb. 18. Then, Wake Forest comes to town for a 7:00 PM Wednesday evening game on Feb. 21. The Wake Forest game will not be televised. Florida State rounds out the regular season home schedule on March 3 at 12 noon.

Group Tickets on Sale The Clemson University Athletic Department Ticket Office is offering a limited number of group tickets for the following Men’s ACC Basketball games at $5.00 each. The minimum amount to order is twenty (20) per game. All group tickets are located in the Upper Arena of Littlejohn Coliseum.

The special offer will be available for the following games:

Feb. 21, 2001      Wake Forest     7:00 PMMarch 3, 2001   Florida State   12:00 Noon

Contact Lynn Sparks at 864-656-4288 for group ticket information.