AFP editor Chris Graham leads our live blog as five seed Duke faces 12 seed Clemson at the 2017 ACC Tournament.
Duke Team Notes
- A unanimous first-team All-ACC selection for sophomore guard Luke Kennard highlighted Duke’s collection of conference awards on Sunday.
- Kennard leads Duke in scoring with an average of 20.1 points per game and shooting .504 from the floor, .450 from outside the arc and .847 from the free throw line. He is one of two players nationally – and the only major-conference player – to average at least 20.0 points while shooting at least .500 from the floor, .400 from outside the arc and .800 from the line.
- Senior guard Matt Jones was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team. Jones is Duke’s first ACC All-Defensive Team selection since Mason Plumlee in 2013. He is the 15th Duke player to earn the acclaim since 1997 – a group that has combined for 25 All-Defensive Team nods. Routinely given the assignment of guarding the opposition’s top perimeter player, Jones has blossomed this season with a career-high average of 1.6 steals per game that ranks fifth in the ACC. He ranks fourth in the ACC in steals percentage, accounting for 27.3 percent of the Blue Devils’ total steals on the season.
- Freshman forward Jayson Tatum was named a third-team All-ACC selection and a member of the ACC All-Freshman Team. Tatum is the fifth Duke freshman in the last four seasons to garner All-ACC accolades, and his selection to the ACC All-Freshman Team gives Duke a representative for the sixth consecutive season. He is the 23rd Duke player to earn a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team since 1993. The St. Louis native ranks second on the team in rebounding (7.3) and scoring (16.0), which rank first and second, respectively, among ACC freshmen. He is shooting .433 from the floor, .358 from the three-point line and .870 from the free throw line.
Clemson Team Notes
- Jaron Blossomgame was named third-team All-ACC on Sunday. It was his second straight season earning an all-conference accolade, the first Tiger to earn multiple honors since Trevor Booker in 2009 and 2010.
- Blossomgame will move to third in Tigers’ history by starting the 123rd game of his career Tuesday. Only Trevor Booker (134) and Cliff Hammonds (133) have started more games in a Clemson uniform.
- Blossomgame needs 17 points to pass K.C. Rivers (1,684) for seventh place on Clemson’s all-time scoring list.
- Avry Holmes is coming off his first career double-double after achieving a career-best 10 rebounds on Senior Day against Boston College.
- Holmes shot a league-best 53.1 percent from three-point range in ACC play.
- Sidy Djitte surpassed 100 offensive rebounds on the season last time out; he is the first Tiger since Trevor Booker in 2008-09 to reach the century mark.
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