Tigers Fall To No. 2 Duke, 73-54

Jan. 3, 2004

Second ranked Duke used an 11-0 run early in the first half and went on to a 73-54 victory over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum on January 3. It was the ACC opener for both schools and the first league game for Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell. It was the 16th straight victory for Duke by double digits over the Tigers.

Daniel Ewing scored 19 points off the bench and J.J. Redick added 17 points to lead the Blue Devils, who shot 47.7 percent from the field for the game, but just 32 percent on three-point attempts.

Clemson was led in scoring by Sharrod Ford with 12 points on 5-7 shooting. The sophomore added four rebounds and two blocked shots. Lamar Rice scored 11 points off the bench on 5-8 shooting, while Chey Christie had his third straight double figure scoring game with 10 points. Olu Babalola made just 2-7 shots, but did hit 5-6 free throws and added nine points.

Duke entered the game allowing opponents to shoot 38.5 percent from the field and that is exactly what Clemson shot for the game. Duke entered the game shooting 47.5 percent offensively and the Blue Devils shot 47.7 percent. Duke’s scoring margin entering the game was 21 points and the Blue Devils won by 19. Thus, it was a typical Duke performance.

It was an 8-6 game in favor of Duke with 14 minutes left in the first half. Then, Duke went on a 11-0 run to take a 19-6 lead at the 11 minute mark on two free throws by Daniel Ewing. That was the most important spurt of the game. Clemson cut the lead to 22-15 with 7:39 left in the first half on a follow up shot by Christie. Duke then stretched the margin to 42-29 at intermission.

Duke scored the first four points of the second half to put the margin to 17 points at 48-31 with 16 minutes left. The lead varied between 13 and 23 points the remainder of the game. Every time it appeared the Tigers might make a run, Ewing or Redick converted a three-point play.