WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Second-ranked Wake Forest held No. 7 Clemson to just one field goal in a span of 18 minutes, and still needed 18 points and 16 rebounds from Tim Duncan to win 55-49 Wednesday night.
The game featured two of the toughest defenses in the Atlantic Coast Conference and was marked by plenty of rough play, much of which was permitted by the officials.
Players were knocked to the floor 20 times, a list that included Duncan, who was elbowed in the chin, and Clemson’s Andrius Jurkunas, who took a forearm to the head and spent several minutes on the bench with an ice bag covering his face.
Wake Forest (20-2) secured its school-record fifth consecutive 20-win season and improved its league-leading mark to 9-2.
Clemson (19-5, 7-4) was held to 28 percent shooting. The Tigers rallied after making only one basket in a long span bridging the first and second halves and took a 38-37 lead on a 3-pointer by Terrell McIntyre with 8:44 left.
Ricky Peral then scored all five of his points during an 11-3 run as Wake Forest came back. Peral’s two free throws put the Demon Deacons ahead to stay.
Peral added a 3-pointer, Duncan had a three-point play and Jerry Braswell capped the surge with a 23-footer that made it 48-41, the biggest lead by either team to that point.
Merl Code hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute and wound up with 12 points, making him the only player in double figures for Clemson, which missed 36-of-50 field-goal attempts and lost for the fourth time in seven games.
Clemson forced 15 turnovers but lost its seventh straight game at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.