Duke basketball: Statement time for Blue Devils at Clemson

A win at Clemson would show Duke basketball's newfound confidence is legit.

Duke basketball is the ACC's reigning regular-season champion. But that was last season, and much has changed. Extreme roster turnover. New coach. And learning experiences galore.

Meanwhile, the Clemson Tigers (14-3, 6-0 ACC) reign supreme thus far this go-round and would almost certainly enter the AP Top 25 with a win over the visiting No. 24 Blue Devils (13-4, 4-2 ACC) at 5 p.m. ET Saturday (ACCN) in Littlejohn Coliseum.

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Although the media predicted the Tigers to finish No. 11 in the standings, hindsight says it should be no surprise they are the only unbeaten squad in ACC play. After all, six of their top seven scorers have been at Clemson for multiple seasons; plus, Chase Hunter and Hunter Tyson, the two leading scorers, are in their fourth season together.

They all play well together on both ends of the floor. On offense, they wear down opponents while using large chunks of the clock shot to find the best scoring opportunity with crisp passing. On defense, they thrive by communicating with voices familiar to one another, a department where younger teams often fall short.

Granted, the freshman-laden Blue Devils still boast a respectable record. Moreover, they are riding an emotional high following Wednesday night's come-from-behind 77-69 home win over a Pitt Panthers squad full of grown-men grad transfers.

Top play had Cameron jumpin last night! #DukeMBBTOP5 🍿🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/CHr1C406Q3

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 12, 2023

That was at home, though. Duke has yet to exhibit much resilience on a quality opponent's home floor; replay the 81-70 loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Dec. 20 and the 84-60 embarrassment at the hands of the NC State Wolfpack only 10 days ago. 

Even though the Blue Devils left with a W in their last road game, that 65-64 victory over the lowly Boston College Eagles last Saturday was one of those wins that hardly felt like a win. Pairing that with the beatdown at NC State, they are only a week removed from two of the ugliest performances in recent Duke basketball history.

Now, consider Clemson, with its wealth of stretch-fours and seasoned veterans at every position, is 9-0 at home and riding a six-game winning streak overall. Duke hasn't won more than four straight this season and hasn't reeled off three in a row since early December.

Furthermore, the Blue Devils, who have only two returning scholarship players from last season in guards Jeremy Roach and Jaylen Blakes, are likely to be without Roach for the third straight game as the junior captain continues to allow his lingering toe injury to heal completely.

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Sure, the Duke basketball rookies, led by power forward Kyle Filipowski's career-high 28 points and 15 rebounds, responded to adversity against Pitt. They accounted for all but 10 of the team's 45 points in the second half as the Blue Devils, young and old, appeared to find a new sense of confidence.

Again, though, that was in the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Entering the middle stretch of ACC play, Saturday's outcome will go a long way toward establishing whether this first Duke basketball team under Jon Scheyer's command has any chance of giving the program its second consecutive ACC regular-season crown.

That would require more than just road victories over relatively weak opponents like Boston College.

At the moment, the Blue Devils' toughness remains in question outside of Durham. In other words, Duke, a two-point underdog on SI Sportsbook, is facing a statement game at Clemson.

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