What went wrong for Cooper Flagg, Duke basketball in loss at Clemson

Posted by author February 9, 2025 Basketball

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Despite a late surge by Cooper Flagg, Duke’s shooting struggles and a critical turnover cost them the game.
Viktor Lakhin led Clemson’s scoring attack, exploiting Duke’s usually strong interior defense for 22 points.

Duke basketball’s dream of an undefeated run through the ACC ended Saturday night at Clemson.

The second-ranked Blue Devils fell 77-71 to the Tigers, who snapped Duke’s 16-game winning streak with a court-storming victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Blue Devils (20-3, 12-1 ACC) had a 71-70 lead with 58 seconds left, but Duke missed its final three shots and Clemson (19-5, 11-2) scored the final seven points to pull off the upset.

Here’s what went wrong at Clemson in Duke’s first loss since Thanksgiving week.

Cooper Flagg, Duke basketball shooting struggles at Clemson

Cooper Flagg, one of the favorites to win national player of the year, finished with 18 points and drilled a 3-pointer to give Duke a one-point lead with 58 seconds left. But it was an inefficient night for Flagg – the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft – who missed 11 of his 17 shots.

The 6-foot-9 forward gave Duke a chance by scoring the Blue Devils’ final 14 points in a five-minute stretch, but he slipped on the floor for a critical turnover with 14 seconds left and Clemson made free throws to ice it.

Duke missed 20 of its 29 shots in the second half and Flagg made four of the nine buckets.

Ian Schieffelin, Clemson dominated Duke in rebounding battle

Duke entered with a rebounding margin close to plus-9 before Clemson flipped the script with a dominant performance on the glass. The Blue Devils were out-rebounded by 13 against the Tigers, who had 11 offensive rebounds for 15 second-chance points. Ian Schieffelin had 10 rebounds and added 12 points in a double-double performance.

Blue Devils had no answer for Viktor Lahkin, Clemson’s points in paint

Schieffelin did most of the dirty work against Duke, but Viktor Lakhin presented the biggest problem for the Blue Devils. Lakhin scored 22 points, matching Duke’s points in the paint as the Tigers finished with 11 layups and a dunk. The Devils were outscored 40-22 on the interior, missing 11 of their 18 layup attempts.

Lahkin and the Tigers stayed in attack mode, getting Duke’s top big men – Khaman Maluach and Maliq Brown – in foul trouble. According to KenPom.com, Duke had the best two-point defense in the nation entering its game at Clemson. The Tigers attacked that strength and made it a weakness to beat the Blue Devils.

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.