DURHAM, N.C. — Injury and foul trouble rendered No. 9 Duke less than its best against Clemson on Tuesday night.
So the Blue Devils needed help from an unexpected place. Joey Baker provided it.
The senior reserve forward scored 11 points, including a basket in the lane with 2:16 to play that put the Blue Devils on top for good in a 71-69 ACC basketball win over Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Baker’s late basket was part of a 6-0 Duke run that erased the 65-63 lead Clemson had built with 3:19 to play. Jeremy Roach tied the game for Duke with a jumper at 3:04 before Baker drove across the lane and sank a runner for a 67-65 Duke lead.
Paolo Banchero sank a baseline jumper with 1:28 left and Duke lead 69-65.
Banchero, despite being limited to nine minutes of first-half play due to picking up two fouls, paced the Blue Devils with 19 points. Baker scored nine of his 11 points in the first half.
Mark Williams, Duke’s 7-1 sophomore center had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (16-3, 6-2 ACC). Wendell Moore scored 13 points for Duke.
PJ Hall paced Clemson (11-9, 3-6 ACC) with 14 points. Hunter Tyson had 13 points and Chase Hunter 12 points for the Tigers.
The Blue Devils played their second game in a row without starting guard Trevor Keels, the 6-5 freshman who is out with a calf injury on his right leg. Keels was not in uniform but took a few shots during pre-game warmups, a sign he continues to progress toward a return.
Keels’ absence and Banchero’s foul trouble meant Duke had to go deeper into its bench in the first half and the Blue Devils offense was not its usual potent self most of the game.
But, Banchero led a Duke surge early in the second half as the Blue Devils moved in front. Over the first six minutes of the half, Banchero scored seven points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist as the Blue Devils took a 55-48 lead.
Moore played a big role in that stretch, too, with eight points. That included a play where Banchero passed out of a triple-team across the court to a wide-open Moore, who sank a 3-pointer.
With 9:25 to play, Banchero drilled a 3-pointer from the corner right in front of the Duke bench to put the Blue Devils up 60-53.
Clemson, though, responded with five in a row on a Tyson 3-pointer and Hunter’s slam dunk in transition leaving Duke up 60-59 with 7:26 to play. After Moore left a layup short and missed a 3-pointer, Nick Honor’s 3-pointer with 6:08 to play gave the Tigers a 61-60 lead.
Clemson led by as many as five points in the first half before the teams ended the half tied at 36.
The Blue Devils hurt themselves with nine turnovers in the first half, which is why they couldn’t build a lead over the Tigers even while hitting 6 of 10 3-pointers.
With Banchero in foul trouble, Duke received strong minutes off the bench from Bates Jones. The transfer from Davidson scored five points and recorded a steal in his nine first-half minutes. Baker’s nine points, also in a reserve role, paced Duke over the first half.
