DeMarcus Nelson continued his run of strong play with 24 points while freshman Kyle Singler added 17 as Duke improved to 3-0 in league play and 15-1 overall.
Midway through the first half it appeared as though the Blue Devils would be able to cruise to an easy victory after building a 12 point lead at the 10:58 mark before the Tigers rallied to within five at halftime. Clemson continued to build the momemtum in their favor by crashing hte boards and hitting timely outside shots before eventually grabbing a 55-54 advantage with 13:40 remaining.
That's when Singler and Nelson took over with the senior knocking down a three from the left side to ignite a 23-7 spurt that proved to be the deciding five minute span. During that time Singler connected on back to back three pointers, while Clemson committed four turnovers in five possessions.
As a team the Tigers committed 21 turnovers, which Duke quickly converted into 37 points - good enough to offset Clemson's 42-26 victory in the rebounding battle.
K.C. Rivers scored a team high 16 points for Oliver Purnell's program, which fell to 4-54 in Cameron and hasn't beaten Duke in 22 consecutive chances. Freshman point guard Demontez Still added 15, while Trevor Booker logged 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
Meanwhile the Blue Devils put five players in double figures on the night with Gerald Henderson (16), Nolan Smith (13), and Jon Scheyer (12) joining Singler and Nelson in that category.