Duke needed big plays late against Clemson. Paolo Banchero delivered for Blue Devils
Due partly to his own early fouls, Paolo Banchero watched other Duke players keep the Blue Devils in position to win late in close game against Clemson Tuesday night.
In the game’s final minutes, though, when Duke looked to close out a win after faltering in two other situations earlier this month, Banchero’s fingerprints were all over what became a 71-69 Blue Devils win.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone and it certainly wasn’t to Clemson coach Brad Brownell, whose gritty team was nevertheless unable to keep Banchero from making plays that sealed his team’s fate.
“He’s a handful,” Brownell said. “He makes all kinds of shots. He had a couple threes. He drives it in there. He posts you. He’s a three-level scorer, obviously, at almost 20 points a game. I mean, it’s a tough cover.”
If that sounds like an all-American, a player of the year and a top NBA Draft prospect, the answers are yes, yes and yes.
All those skills were on display over the game’s final five minutes. Clemson held a 61-60 lead but Duke scored on five of its final seven possessions.
At 4:40, Banchero showed his court awareness to zip a pass to an open Jeremy Roach, who drilled a 3-pointer to put Duke in front.
After Clemson tied the score on a Chase Hunter jumper, Banchero’s turnover on a poor pass allowed the Tigers to move back in front 65-63 on Hunter Tyson’s put-back of a David Collins missed shot with 3:19 left.
Duke tied the game on Roach’s pull-up jumper, then took the lead for good at 67-65 when Joey Baker sank a runner in the lane with 2:15 left.
Following a Clemson miss, Duke worked the clock down and Wendell Moore fed Banchero the ball along the baseline. In front of Duke’s bench, he sank a turnaround jump shot with 1:27 left.
When Clemson’s PJ Hall missed a shot in the lane, Banchero secured the rebound and was fouled with 1:05 left.
Leading 69-65, Duke once again worked the clock down before Banchero missed a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left. He called that a “bad shot” and it led to a Clemson run-out that resulted in a Tyson dunk to cut Duke’s lead to a basket with 37 seconds to play.
During a time out, Banchero said, there was discussion of how Duke had lost 76-74 to Miami on Jan. 8 and 79-78 in overtime at Florida State on Jan. 18.
“We were like, `There’s no way we’re losing,’” Banchero said. “We know what’s happened the past two games against Miami and Florida State. That was definitely said, you know, we’re not losing. Make the right plays. Don’t make mistakes, you know, take care of the ball.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski once again instructed the team to melt the 30-second shot clock and run a set where Banchero would get the ball in his hands.
With 10 seconds left, after Roach zipped the ball to him in the lane, Banchero muscled to the basket for a layup that put Duke up 71-67 and essentially sealed the win.
“That was winning time,” Banchero said. “I took a bad shot with 30 some seconds left in the game. So coach drew up the play for me again. He put the trust in me to score down low and I had no choice but to finish.”
A 6-10, 250-pound freshman comfortable playing everything from point guard to center, he scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists against Clemson.
He had a rocky road to get there. But in the end, he delivered and Duke secured just its second win of the season – against three losses – in games decided by five points or less.
Banchero picked up two fouls in the game’s first five minutes against the Tigers. That limited him to nine first-half minutes, when he scored only five points. But he was mentally strong anyway, thanks to lessons he learned during Duke’s 71-66 loss at Ohio State on Nov. 30.
That night, Banchero scored 14 points but did so on 4 of 14 shooting as he picked up four fouls and didn’t respond well to being in foul trouble.
“I didn’t foul out but it kind of messed up the whole game,” Banchero said. “So after that game I just told myself I can’t let that happen. I’ve got to be on the court. I’ve got to be able to play without thinking about fouling.”
That’s exactly what happened against Clemson. Banchero didn’t pick up another foul after those two early ones.
Reserve forward Bates Jones scored five first-half points while Banchero was out, a big factor in the game being tied 36-all at half.
Banchero scored the first five points after halftime. He grabbed a couple of defensive rebounds. He rebounded teammate AJ Griffin’s missed shot and scored inside with 16:38 left giving Duke a 47-41 lead.
He passed out of a triple-team to a wide-open Moore, whose 3-pointer gave Duke a 50-46 lead at 15:22.
Baker’s 11 points and Roach’s performance with nine assists and just one turnover were also huge factors in Duke getting this win. Moore scored 13 points but battled cramping issues during the game’s final 10 minutes.
His compromised physical condition showed when he drove the lane but left a layup short with 7:13 to play and when he misfired on a wide-open 3-pointer at 6:17.
Those plays helped Clemson erase Duke’s 60-53 lead to take its 61-60 lead entering the game’s final five minutes.
Just last week at Florida State, Krzyzewski said he was comfortable with either Moore or Banchero having the ball in key late-game situations when Duke needed a basket.
Against Clemson, with Moore fighting what he called “the cramp monster,” Banchero became the main man late for Duke.
It all worked out very well and the Blue Devils realized they could put a team away late in a close game.
“Let me put it this way,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re not a perfect team. We are a young team that’s had a stoppage, has injuries and is playing their butts off. As we move forward, let’s see collective individual improvement.”
Duke’s most talented player, Banchero, certainly showed that against Clemson. That bodes well for the Blue Devils going forward.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Duke needed big plays late against Clemson. Paolo Banchero delivered for Blue Devils."