Duke Basketball: 3 keys for Blue Devils to take down Clemson Tigers

1. Despite their shooting woes, the Tigers rely on the three-ball – and preventing that will be a challenge for Duke

There are not as many teams as abysmal offensively in the ACC as the Clemson Tigers.  They rank 14th in offensive efficiency – just ahead of Miami – as well as last in effective FG% and 11th in 2P%.  That necessarily has not been their strength, though, considering there was once a time – prior to their 85-50 shellacking at the hands of Virginia – where the Tigers owned the most efficient defense in the nation.

But if there is one area where the Tigers have relied on offensively, it has been from beyond the arc.  Clemson ranks 62nd nationally in point distribution in terms of three-pointers, seeing 35.5% of their offense come from long range.  Contrarily, just 48.4% of their offense comes inside – which ranks 239th.

Look no further than their previous game against Louisville, where – despite shooting a stellar 12-18 (66.7%) on two-pointers – the Tigers took a whopping 35 three-pointers.  For context, that is two more attempts than Louisville took on two-pointers.  In all, the Tigers take 24.9 threes a game (68th nationally) while attempting just 31.4 two-pointers (318th).  Those marks are even more glaring in conference play, where Clemson ranks third in 3PA (25.8) but 13th in 2PA (30.5).

What plagues Clemson is the fact that they are awful from long range, despite relying so much on the three-ball.  The Tigers rank 264th nationally in 3P%, knocking down just 31.0% of their bombs.  It is even worse in conference play, where they are second from last in that regard, shooting just 29.6%, 1.5% better than Miami.  Against Louisville, despite taking 35 three-pointers, the Tigers made just seven (20.0%).  Their defense is even worse, allowing teams to shoot 40.2% (last in the ACC) – but that is beside the point.

Clemson has the opportunity to feast on Saturday, however – and it is a major area of concern for Duke entering this game.  If the Blue Devils hope to have a shot, they will need to lock down the Tigers outside – which will be an extremely daunting task, considering the Blue Devils own one of the nation’s worst 3P% defensive marks at 36.9%.

That percentage is even worse in conference play, where Duke is allowing teams to shoot 38.9% from outside.  During their three-game losing streak, the Blue Devils surrendered clips of 42.9% (Virginia Tech), 35.0% (Pittsburgh), and 37.5% (Louisville).  In the win over Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils gave up more made threes than in any of those three games (eight) – but the Yellow Jackets also attempted more (24), recording the lowest 3P% of those four games (33.3%).

Again, the Tigers were just 7-35 from beyond the arc against Louisville – but the Cardinals also rank 86th in 3P% at 31.0% (and are even better in conference play at 29.0%).  That is nearly 10% better than Duke’s defensive mark in the ACC.  Clemson will take threes, there is no doubt about that – but the Blue Devils will have to work in order to prevent any of those attempts from becoming makes.