The early part of March Madness is underway as conference tournaments are taking place around the country. In the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC), the Duke Blue Devils were in action on Wednesday against the Clemson Tigers. Duke was able to get 20-point performances from three of their players to ultimately defeat Clemson 79-72. With the win, Duke is moving on, while Clemson will hope for some possible magic on Selection Sunday. Here's a look at how this latest Acc Tournament game was won by the Duke Blue Devils.
Duke's three 20-point scorers
In this Wednesday afternoon ACC matchup, the Blue Devils had 20-point performances from starters Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson, and Luke Kennard.
The trio accounted for three-quarters of the team's output for the day with Jackson shooting 70 percent from the floor which included the two three-point shots he attempted.
Tatum and Kennard finished 16-for-35 from the floor, with just a 3-of-15 three-pointers made. However, the three players helped boost the squad to a win as did forward Amile Jefferson who had a double-double of 11-points and 10 rebounds on the day.
The victory advances the Duke Blue Devils to the next round of the ACC Tournament. They'll play on Thursday against No. 4 seed Louisville at 2 p.m. Eastern Time in Brooklyn.
Blossomgame leads Tigers in loss
The Clemson Tigers nearly had 20 from their star forward Jaron Blossomgame.
He finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, while teammate Shelton Mitchell added 17. Center Sidy Dijitte had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while guard Marquise Reed came off the bench to score 13 points in the loss. Clemson shot just 39.3 percent for the game, compared to 49.2 percent for the Blue Devils thanks to their three top scorers.
The defeat ends Clemson's chances at grabbing the automatic invite to the Big Dance this coming Sunday. At 17-15 overall and 6-12 in the ACC, the team is currently listed on ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi's "first four out" teams, meaning they are highly unlikely to be in the NCAA Tournament. However, a NIT invite is probably on the way for the Tigers.