There was talk after the Maryland loss - their fourth in a row - that Duke was dead. It was over. Goodbye NCAA, hello NIT. It was said they would finish 6-10 in the ACC. They won’t win on the road and will probably lose their home games.

Three games since that Maryland loss, Duke is 3-0, with two of those wins on the road at BC and, last night, at Clemson. After the clock controversy last month in Cameron, Duke “clocked” Clemson in the first half last night, building a 24 point lead just before the break. Unfortunately, the lead all but evaporated in the first 10 minutes of the second half when Clemson closed to within five. But they would get no closer, with Duke matching them the rest of the way for a 71-66 win.

Now, Duke sits at 8-6 in the ACC with two games remaining, and “the bubble” is no longer a part of the conversation. Andy Katz was right. They’ll have Maryland at home next week, followed by the season finale in Chapel Hill. If they can split, they’ll finish 9-7 in the ACC, which many thought impossible two weeks ago. As good as Carolina is, it’s not out of the question they could win both games. It’s a rivalry game, plus Duke played well against them at Cameron in a near-win. But, that’s a longshot. Maryland is the game they need to win, and the game they should win.

I predicted 10-6 as the conference season began. Having lost three games by a total of five points, they very well could be sitting at 11 wins right now, but couldn’t quite close those games out. Nevertheless, their last three games have shown that they’ve learned from those losses, so hopefully they’ll finish strong.

With the loss, Clemson’s NCAA hopes have all but vanished. Despite a 17-0 start to the season, Clemson has now lost eight of their last ten games. They sit at 5-8 in the ACC and would have to win out to finish .500, which still might not be enough. And with games at BC and at Virginia Tech, winning out seems highly unlikely.