before tonight the last time Clemson had beat Duke at home was my freshman year, 1997. i was still green in the experience of ACC basketball. i don’t remember having gone to a game before that Duke game. it was the first game back from Christmas break, and i remember where i sat, about half way up in the hard seats. Clemson came back from 6 down to force OT and then won in OT. it was incredible. after that though, every time Duke came to Clemson they had someone that would hit a rash of shots (McLeod, Williams, Battier, etc.) and we’d lose. then Clemson basketball sucked for a while, and we had no shot to beat Duke.

tonight’s tipoff was a 9 pm ET tip. i used to LOVE the 9 pm games. it meant the game was important. i remember having a physics exam the same night as a game against UNC. i am pretty sure i failed that test. i couldn’t concentrate, all i kept thinking about was the game. i remember finishing the test, running back to my dorm, painting my face, and making it to my seat just in time for player introductions. 9 pm games were great. the atmosphere was amazing.

Clemson beat down Duke tonight. i have never seen them play that well for an entire game before. they had their immature moments like Oglesby’s dunk attempt, but i can accept that from a young team, and when we’re up by almost 30. since i’ve been a student or alum, i have NEVER seen something so awesome as Booker’s dunk over Zoubek and Singler (shown above). i had lost my voice by halftime, and i was watching the game on television. the game kept going in the 2nd half. it was a thing of beauty to watch. i got a couple of texts but didn’t return them until the result was firmly in hand. i was hoping to win by 30 but 27 will have to do. i shared a couple of phone calls post game sharing my excitement. simply stunning.