Duke remains dominant. How the Blue Devils hammered Clemson to reach ACC final.

Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Mar 14, 2026

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Florida State gave Duke a scare in the ACC Tournament.

Clemson did not.

The No. 1 Blue Devils will play for a second straight ACC championship Saturday after downing the Tigers, 73-61, in the semifinals at the Spectrum Center

A night after coming within an FSU buzzer-beater of losing, the Devils had much of the heavy lifting done by halftime against the Tigers, taking a 41-22 lead after limiting Clemson to 22.2% shooting.

Duke was well on its way to the title game, where the tournament’s top seed will face second-seeded Virginia at 8:30 p.m.

The Blue Devils (31-2) had the Boozer brothers turn in strong, solid games. Cameron Boozer had 24 points, 15 rebounds and five assists, taking some serious pounding, and Cayden Boozer had 16 points as the Blue Devils again adjusted to tournament life on the court without injured starters Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba II.

With Duke’s Maliq Brown again in early foul trouble, freshman Nikolas Khamenia was off the bench quickly and produced one of his best all-around games, matching his season high with 14 points and offsetting an off shooting game by Isaiah Evans, who did contribute 10 rebounds

The final seconds of the first half Friday were telling. First, Duke moved the ball with some zip in its halfcourt offense, then had Khamenia drain a 3-pointer. Khamenia lifted up three fingers as he backpedaled down court, then got a hand in the face of Clemson’s Efrem Johnson, who airballed his 3-point shot as the buzzer sounded.

As Duke headed to its locker room, the first to congratulate an ebullient Khamenia were Foster and Ngongba, who have become vocal supporters from the bench this week rather than on the court.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell could only stand, hands on hips, much of the night as the Blue Devils had their way. It hurt that Clemson had 6-11 forward Carter Welling go out with an ACL injury in the tournament opener against Wake Forest, but the Tigers were outmanned at every position, in size and talent.

The Tigers tried to regroup at the break and looked to attack the basket more the second half, pulling within 43-29 early. There was life on the Clemson bench. Some hope.

But Khamenia drove for a 3-point play. Cam Boozer drained a 3-pointer. The Duke lead was back to 20.

The Tigers made another move later in the half, pulling within 55-43 with less than 10 minutes left. Evans had two points off an offensive rebound, then Boozer went to the line after being hacked and somehow getting off baseline 15-footer that nearly fell.

After Dame Sarr’s 3-pointer pushed Duke ahead 60-46, Duke’s Scheyer used a timeout. But Brownell did most of the talking on the Clemson end of the court, loudly asking for better defensive focus and not mincing words.

With their fouls mounting after some quick whistles, the Devils went zone at times in the second half. Clemson’s also had some late 3-pointers drop.

For Clemson, the energy level did not wane but Duke had too many answers. RJ Godfrey had 18 points for the Tigers and was one of three players rotating in trying to slow Cam Boozer defensively.

Looking to Saturday, when someone wins and cuts down the nets at the Spectrum Center, the Blue Devils and Cavaliers played once this season — in Durham. The Devils came away with a 77-51 victory as Virginia shot 29% from the field and went 7 for 35 on 3-pointers.

Virginia coach Ryan Odom summed it up succinctly after the game: “This is a competitive sport,” Odom said. “We punch people and they punch us. They punched us a lot more than we punched them today.”