Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils suffered their third loss of the season, falling short against ACC rival Clemson on Saturday.
The Blue Devils had their 16-game winning streak snapped and moved to 20-3 overall and 12-1 in conference play this season. The team entered the week ranked No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and it could have found its way to a No. 1 ranking with a win after top-ranked Auburn was beaten by Florida earlier Saturday.
Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and Duke will look to get back on track with a pair of home games against California (Wednesday) and Stanford (Saturday).
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How did Clemson beat Duke?
The Tigers, who are ranked No. 21 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, used a huge second half to surge past the Blue Devils. Duke led 41-35 at halftime, but a 12-0 run with just under 10 minutes to play helped Clemson to a 56-49 lead.
Clemson was led by senior center Viktor Lakhin, who scored 22 points to go with four rebounds and three blocks. Three other Tigers players scored in double-digits, with senior forward Ian Schieffelin scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds.
How did Clemson celebrate?
The Clemson fans stormed the court on Saturday after the 77-71 victory over Duke at home.
Clemson has now won three of its last seven meetings against Duke. All three of the victories have come at home. Duke had won the previous meeting against Clemson 72-71 on Jan. 27, 2024.
Flagg finished with 19 points, five rebounds and an assist in the loss to Clemson.
With Clemson leading Duke 73-71 with 18.9 remaining in regulation, Flagg had an opportunity to tie but slipped on the court while driving toward the basket and was called for a travel.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke, Cooper Flagg fall to Clemson: How it happened
