Heading to the finals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With idle time on his hands Saturday morning, Clemson forward Sam Perry took in some of ESPN’s college basketball show. When the panel got to the ACC Tournament, the senior was taken aback when a crew that included Doug Gottlieb and Bob Knight began previewing Sunday’s presumed North Carolina-Duke championship game.
“They didn’t even say anything about us,” Perry said. “They gave us a clip or two, but they still didn’t give us the respect that we deserved, that, you know, the other powerhouses tend to get.”
The third-seeded Tigers should get their due now, after crashing the party with a 78-74 upset of second-seeded Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
“That was the best game we’ve played all year long,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “I really feel like we’re peaking at the right time.”
The win ended two streaks, and it’s hard to imagine which one was more daunting.
Clemson (24-8) snapped a 22-game losing streak to the Blue Devils that dated back to 1997. That run included some agonizing losses, like last year at Durham, when the Tigers blew a five-point lead in the final 13 seconds, or the 2006 matchup, when they went 6-for-21 from the free throw line.
The Tigers hadn’t beaten Duke outside of Littlejohn Coliseum since Jan. 4, 1995, Rick Barnes’ first ACC game as coach.
“During the season, you kind of read the notes and see what’s going on,” Clemson guard K.C. Rivers said. “I don’t even know (how to describe) the feeling. After we won, I was like, ‘Wow. We beat Duke.’ It just came as a surprise to me.”
Clemson also ended a 46-year ACC Tournament championship game drought. The Tigers lost their only title game appearance in 1962 to a Wake Forest team that featured current CBS analyst Billy Packer.
You have to go back to 1939 for Clemson’s only postseason championship, when it won four games in four days to take the Southern Conference Tournament in Raleigh, N.C.
This year’s group is ready to hit the refresh icon on the record books. The Tigers, in their fifth year under Purnell’s direction, are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.
They tied a school record with 10 regular season ACC wins and, by finishing strong, erased the stigma of last year’s epic collapse, when a 17-0 start was ruined by a 4-10 finish and subsequent NIT appearance.
“We cracked last year and people thought we were going to do the same thing this year,” Perry said. “We used that as motivation.”
Many in attendance Saturday thought the Tigers would fold against the Blue Devils (27-5). Clemson clawed its way to a 67-60 lead but missed a chance to go up nine when Cliff Hammonds clanged a pair of free throws with 3:13 to play.
Duke scored four quick points to trim the lead to three when Clemson forward James Mays was fouled and sent to the line with 1:41 left.
Free throws have always been the Tigers’ Achilles’ heel. They shot an ACC-worst 62.5 percent for the season, and that was their best mark in four years.
But Mays, a 53 percent foul shooter who was already 4-for-4 in the half, made both. Two possessions later, Hammonds, a 44 percent foul shooter, made two more to keep the lead at four.
In the final two minutes, Clemson made 7 of 8 from the line to put Duke away.
“If they hit their free throws, they are as good as anybody,” Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Once the final horn sounded, Perry heaved the basketball into the crowd, ripped off his jersey and ran to give the Tiger mascot a bear hug. He had waited four long years to beat Duke and now gets a much-anticipated third shot at No. 1 North Carolina, a team that slipped out of Clemson’s grasp twice this season, once in overtime and once in two overtimes.
Just so we’re clear, that’s North Carolina and Clemson in the championship game today, not Duke.
“You have to talk about us now, right?” Perry asked.
It appears the folks at ESPN have no choice.

CLEMSON (24-8)
Perry 1-2 4-7 6, Booker 9-11 0-1 18, Mays 5-7 6-6 16, Rivers 4-11 0-0 10, Hammonds 5-8 4-6 17, Stitt 0-5 1-2 1, Sykes 0-0 0-0 0, Potter 1-3 0-0 2, Oglesby 3-8 0-0 8, Grant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 15-22 78.
DUKE (27-5)
Singler 1-9 0-0 2, Henderson 2-5 3-4 7, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Paulus 5-9 4-4 17, Nelson 6-13 2-2 14, Smith 2-4 2-2 7, McClure 2-3 0-0 4, King 1-1 0-0 2, Scheyer 3-11 5-5 13, Zoubek 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 26-60 16-17 74.
Halftime—Duke 31-30. 3-Point Goals—Clemson 7-19 (Hammonds 3-6, Rivers 2-5, Oglesby 2-5, Stitt 0-1, Potter 0-2), Duke 6-26 (Paulus 3-6, Scheyer 2-6, Smith 1-3, Henderson 0-2, Nelson 0-4, Singler 0-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Clemson 30 (Booker 7), Duke 33 (Nelson 9). Assists—Clemson 15 (Mays 4), Duke 12 (Scheyer 3). Total Fouls—Clemson 15, Duke 17. A—20,035.