Duke fought off a determined bid by Clemson on Wednesday night for a 70-59 win, setting up a Saturday showdown for the ACC regular-season title with its biggest rival.
Seth Curry helped Duke pull away in the final 11:42 after Clemson cut its deficit to two points at 50-48. Curry made two 3-pointers and three free throws after being fouled when attempting another to help Duke forge a 63-52 lead with 5:02 left.
The 11-point lead matched the Blue Devils' largest of the game. The closest the Tigers came the rest of the game was 65-59 with 2:08 left.
After cutting the lead to two points, Clemson went cold. It missed its next five shots and seven of the next eight, which helped Duke go ahead 60-50.
Duke guard Nolan Smith praised Clemson's defense.
"They were pressing us and denying the ball," Smith said. "We slowed it down and got good shots. That's what we should have been doing the whole game."
Duke held its share of first place in the ACC and will play at North Carolina on Saturday. North Carolina stayed in first place earlier Wednesday by winning 72-70 at Florida State.
The winner of the Duke-North Carolina game will win the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament, which is scheduled to begin next Thursday in Greensboro.
"We saw it shaping up this way," said Duke forward Mason Plumlee. "We had to take care of business tonight. Now we're playing for the championship. That's what we wanted."
Duke improved to 27-3 overall and 13-2 in the ACC. It won its 36th consecutive home game, the longest current home winning streak in major-college basketball.
Clemson fell to 19-10 and 8-7 under Coach Brad Brownell, who is in his first season.
"You've got to make some of the shots we missed," Brownell said. "That's the difference between being a pretty good team and a great team.
"There were some tough shots that (Duke's players) were making. They were throwing in some tough (ones). I thought their rebounding hurt us a little bit."
Smith led the Blue Devils with 21 points in his final home game. He had seven assists, but also had eight of the Blue Devils' season-high 20 turnovers.
Kyle Singler, who also played his final home game, added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Curry scored 18 points.
Smith said that he was nearly overwhelmed by emotion once he returned to the locker room after the game, knowing that he had played his last game in the building.
"It definitely has hit me," he said. "I held it in pretty well when I was talking (to the crowd). It's sad. We don't get to play (again) in front of great fans like that in Cameron, under the banners. It hurts."
"That was an old-time ACC game," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "That was a heck of a game."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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