Clemson vs. Duke Postgame Notes

Feb. 5, 2009

Recap |  Box Score |  Quotes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

•Tonight’s 27-point victory was Clemson largest margin of victory against a top 25 team in history. The previous best was a 22-point victory margin on two occasions. Clemson defeated a fourth-ranked NC State team led by David Thompson at Clemson 92-70 on Feb. 22, 1975 at Clemson, and defeated a 13th ranked Maryland team by 22 points, 93-71 on January 19, 1977 at Clemson.

•Clemson senior K.C. Rivers tied the school record for steals in a game this evening with seven. It was the fourth time in history it had been done. The last time was by Terrell McIntyre vs. Georgia Tech on March 1, 1998

•Trevor Booker made 8-10 shots from the field tonight and is now 31-51 in his career against Duke.

•Clemson defeated Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski this evening. It is the second time in the last three years Clemson has defeated a coach already in the Hall of Fame at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson defeated Jim Boeheim of Syracuse in the NIT that year at Clemson, 74-70 at Littlejohn. Coach K is just the fourth different Hall of Fame coach (already in the Hall of Fame at the time of game) Clemson has defeated in history. The others are Boeheim, Dean Smith and Frank McGuire.

•Clemson has now beaten Duke twice in a row after losing 22 in a row dating back to 1997.

•Tonight was Clemson’s first win over Duke in Littlejohn Coliseum since January 7, 1997 when Clemson downed the Blue Devils 86-82 in overtime. Clemson had lost nine in a row at home to Duke.

•This is the first time Clemson has defeated Duke two consecutive games since the last meeting of 1994-95 and the first meeting of 1995-96.

•The 27-point victory was Clemson’s largest against Duke since the 1974-75 season when the Tigers won 100-66. That is Clemson’s largest margin of victory in any ACC regular season game.

•This was Clemson’s first win over a team ranked in the top five in the nation since January 8, 2002 when Clemson defeated a fifth-ranked (coaches poll) Virginia team, 68-52 at Clemson. It was the first win over a team ranked in the top three in the nation since the Tigers defeated a top ranked North Carolina team at Clemson, 75-65 on February 18, 2001.

•This was fewest points Duke has scored against Clemson since the Tigers held Duke to 44 points in a 51-44 Clemson victory in 1994-95, Rick Barnes’s first year at Clemson.

•Clemson’s 27-point victory was the largest defeat suffered by Duke since the NCAA Championship game of 1990, a 103-73 victory by UNLV on April 2, 1990. The 27-point margin was the largest for Duke in an ACC regular season game since January 18, 1984 when Wake Forest defeated Duke at Winston-Salem, 97-66.