Clemson Knocks Off Second-Ranked Duke in Game for the Ages!

Viktor Lakhin is pumped after a shot and one. Lakhin led Clemson with 22 points, in a 77-71 win over second-ranked Duke on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, SC. Photo By: Charles Mays/Tiger View Media

They did it!! The Clemson Tigers beat the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils behind one of the loudest crowds in Littlejohn history. Clemson moves to 19-5 overall on the season and 11-2 within ACC play, which has them tied for second with Louisville. Duke falls to 20-3 on the season and 12-1 within the ACC. It was an incredible win for the Clemson Tigers as they handed Duke their first ACC loss of the season and bounced back from their deflating loss against Georgia Tech on Tuesday. Viktor Lakhin led the way for the Tigers with 22 points and three blocks, while Proctor scored 23 on 9/15 shooting for the Blue Devils. 

Clemson started this game off in the worst possible way; two turnovers for the Tigers and a three-pointer by Tyrese Proctor gave the Blue Devils an early 6-0 lead. The Tigers would eventually find their footing offensively with a layup from Dillon Hunter and Viktor Lakhin, but the three-ball continued to haunt them early. At the under-16 timeout, Duke had already hit three deep balls to give themselves a 12-8 lead. Out of the media timeout, a Chase Hunter and-one got the Littlejohn crowd roaring as he cut the lead to just two. The Blue Devils started to pull away midway through the first half and had an eight-point lead heading into the under-12 media timeout. Jaeden Zackery and Dillon Hunter’s jumpers would get the Tigers and the raucous crowd right back into the ball game. Tyrese Proctor and the Blue Devils continued to shoot the lights out from behind the arc as his three-ball put Duke up nine with 7:42 to go in the first period. Out of the timeout, Del Jones and Viktor Lakhin would knock down shots to cut the Duke lead to five and get the crowd back into it. But just as he did on Tuesday against Georgia Tech, Lakhin got into early foul trouble after trying to stop a Duke fastbreak opportunity. With 4:34 to go in the first half, things started to get chippy between both sides after Kon Knueppel was called for a flagrant foul for tripping Jaeden Zackery, who was trying to get back on defense. But the Tigers were unable to take advantage of the free throws and possession, as they went 1/2 from the line and then turned the ball over twice. Tyrese Proctor continued to take over this game with 16 points and five straight-made shots to give the Blue Devils a seven-point lead late in the first half. At the half, the Blue Devils led 41-35, with the Tigers holding their own against the second-ranked team in the country. Both teams shot very efficiently, with Duke shooting 57.7% from the floor and the Tigers shooting 68.2%. The one thing that held Clemson back from taking the lead at halftime was the turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over 10 times, with Chase Hunter leading the pack with three. 

The Tigers needed a big start to the half if they had any chance of winning this game, and that’s precisely what they got. A Viktor Lakhin layup and an and-one sent this Littlejohn crowd into a frenzy as the Tigers cut the Duke lead to just three. At the under-16 timeout, Clemson continued to hold their own as Duke led 45-42 with 15:43 to go. Viktor Lakhin continued to dominate out of the timeout, scoring his 17th point by going at Duke’s Cooper Flagg to cut the lead to just two points. Shortly after that, Ian Schieffelin’s deep three tied the game up at 49, and Chase Hunter’s layup gave the Tigers a two-point lead with the Littlejohn crowd in hysterics. The 51-49 lead for the Tigers was their first lead of the entire night with 12:23 to go in the game. The roof of Littlejohn Coliseum somehow stayed intact after Jaeden Zackery’s three-pointer gave the Tigers a five-point lead to send the crowd into a frenzy. With 9:40 to go in the game, the Tigers had held the Blue Devils scoreless for over four minutes and had held Cooper Flagg to just four points the entire game. At the under-8 timeout, the Tigers held a slim 56-52 lead, with the Blue Devils scoring just 11 points in over 12 minutes of basketball. Out of the timeout, Ian Schieffelin got the Littlejohn crowd roaring again with a slam to put the Tigers back up by five points. But Cooper Flagg finally found his stroke as his deep ball tied things up at 59 with 4:53 to go. At the under-4 timeout, the Blue Devils held a one-point lead after Tyrese Proctor drilled a deep ball with two defenders in his face. Both teams continued to trade buckets out of the timeout as Zackery’s layup gave Clemson a one-point lead. With 1:46 to go, Dillon Hunter gave the Tigers a three-point lead with a deep ball after Cooper Flagg tied it with a three of his own. After Flagg put Duke up by one, Chase Hunter came right back with a big shot of his own to give the Tigers a 72-71 lead. With 18.9 to go and Duke with the ball, all the Tigers needed was one more stop… and Cooper Flagg traveled to give Clemson the ball back with 14.7 seconds left to ice the game. Clemson will take on North Carolina on Monday night at 7:00 PM.