Cool, calm and collected Duke will try to avoid the pitfalls of ACC road play today at Clemson.
The Blue Devils (14-2, 2-0) are slowly becoming masters of winning close games, which has helped them win their first two ACC games. On Thursday, they scored a season-low 61 points, but managed a three-point victory against Virginia.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum (ESPNU Ch. 502).
Duke is 8-1 this season in games decided by 10 or fewer points. And that shows freshman guard Austin Rivers that Duke is making the progress needed to stay at the top of the conference.
Rivers is confident that the victory against Virginia gave Duke momentum for today's game.
"It just shows our growth as a team," Rivers said. "I think earlier in the season, we would have been frustrated, switching (on defense) and losing our guys.
"I think we've come a long way, and in practice, we've really been focusing on defense. Guys have stepped up into their roles. I think it shows we're growing on the defensive end."
Clemson (9-7, 1-1) defeated FSU 79-59 at home in its ACC opener, and stumbled at Boston College, losing 59-57 on Thursday.
Duke has dominated recent games in the series with Clemson, winning the last three, 25 of the last 27 and 10 of the last 11 in Littlejohn.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski wants the game to help Duke become a stronger and more complete team.
"We're not looking for an identity," Krzyzewski said. "We're looking to be good. We're trying to win. We don't have to have a certain style of play or whatever. We want to fight and play well together."
Big men Miles and Mason Plumlee are asserting themselves inside after inconsistent play earlier in the season and are shooting a combined 65.2 percent from the field (120 of 184).
Mason Plumlee, a 6-foot-10 junior, is No. 2 in the ACC with 9.6 rebounds a game. He has led Duke in rebounding 12 times in the last 13 games and 13 times overall.
Both Plumlees have blocked at least one shot in eight consecutive games, and Krzyzewski said they were the key to outlasting Virginia.
"That (Virginia game) was a huge win for us," Mason Plumlee said. "We've won games in crunch time, and I think we showed it again. I was really proud of our team because we won a different type of game. We had to execute and then we had to defend."
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