Clemson Ends ACC Misery, Beats No. 7 Duke 78-74
By MIKE CRANSTON | Associated Press | Mar 15, 08 5:40 PM CDT in
Sports
Trevor Booker scored 18 points, Cliff Hammonds added 17 and Clemson, the perennial pushover in the Atlantic Coast Conference, stunned No. 7 Duke 78-74 on Saturday to reach the tournament title game for the first time in 46 years.
The third-seeded Tigers (24-8), who had lost 22 straight games to the Blue Devils, pulled away in the second half to spoil a much more familiar North Carolina-Duke rematch in the championship. Instead Clemson, which has never won the ACC title, will get a shot at the top-ranked Tar Heels on Sunday.
The athletic Tigers, who have improved all season and should make their first NCAA tournament appearance in 10 years, exploited Duke's weakness inside when it mattered.
Rugged James Mays, who scored 16 points, had two three-point plays in an 11-4 run that snapped a 56-all tie.
Second-seeded Duke (27-5) cut the lead to 71-69 on Greg Paulus' 3-pointer with 48 seconds left. But then Clemson, a 63-percent free throw shooting team, made 3-of-4 from the line.
K.C. River's transition dunk after DeMarcus Nelson turned the ball over iced it, setting off a wild celebration for the Tigers, who had been 14-54 in the ACC tournament before beating Boston College on Friday.
Clemson's Sam Perry ripped off his jersey as the final horn sounded and ran up and hugged the Clemson mascot. The Tigers qualified for their first ACC title game since losing to a Wake Forest team that featured Billy Packer in 1962.
Paulus scored 17 points, Nelson added 14 and Jon Scheyer 13 for the Blue Devils, who failed to reach the title game for the second straight year after a stretch of seven ACC titles in eight seasons.
With fans still buzzing over North Carolina's thrilling 68-66 comeback win over Virginia Tech in the opener, Paulus and Hammonds put on an outside-shooting competition in the first half.
Both players were 4-of-5 from the field, but Paulus was 4-of-4 from the free throw line and Hammonds never got there as Duke took a 31-30 lead.
The other competition early involved the coaches. Late in the first half after Duke had taken a five-point lead, Mike Krzyzewski came on the floor at the start of a timeout and motioned to the Duke fans across the floor to get loud.
Clemson's Oliver Purnell returned the favor during Clemson's 9-0 run to start the second half, gesturing to the Clemson fans behind the bench. Many of the North Carolina fans joined in to root against their archrival as the Tigers built a 43-34 lead.
Duke fought back, taking a 52-51 lead on Nolan Smith's 3-pointer with 9:45 left.
But the Blue Devils, who had not lost to Clemson since Rick Barnes coached the Tigers in 1997, faded down the stretch behind poor shooting.
Duke made only six of 26 3-pointers in their second loss in three games. Kyle Singler, the ACC rookie of the year, had his second straight poor game, finishing with two points on 1-of-9 shooting.
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