Next Up - Clemson

Next up for Duke is a trip to Clemson and that's never been an easy trip for Duke and a dangerous trip for any ACC team, including, as we just saw, Louisville, even if it's not in Clemson.

The game is actually in Greenville as Littlejohn is being renovated.

As Barry Jacobs points out today, Clemson is one of the hotter ACC teams at the moment and if that's a bit of a surprise, it's at least partly a tribute to superior coaching.

Many of you may half remember Wilmington nearly upsetting Maryland a decade or so ago in the NCAA tournament; you may not remember that Brownell was the coach.

He went toe-to-toe with Brad Stevens in the Horizon League and is widely respected as a solid coach.

If it's a bit of a surprise to see Clemson hot, that's because the Tigers weren't expected to do much this season.

The Tigers are currently 10-6, but the losses really aren't that bad: UMass, Minnesota, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and UNC. And of those, UMass, Georgia and UNC were solid losses, but things could have been different against Minnesota (89-83), Alabama (51-50), South Carolina (65-59 and the Gamecocks are still undefeated)

Clemson has a tremendous frontcourt with Jaron Blossomgame, a highly versatile 6-7 junior, 6-8 Donte Grantham, Landry Nnoko, a powerfully built 6-10 senior from Cameroon and Sidy Djitte, about the same size, and a junior from Senegal.

Josh Smith, a 6-8, 245 lb. senior from Charlotte, returns as well.

We've always liked Jordan Roper, who's now a 6-1 senior and this year he's paired with 6-2 junior transfer Avry Holmes. He's become a really useful player for the Tigers. Holmes is averaging 30.6 mpg - behind only Blossomgame - and he's been steady.

He's a bit of an outlander for Clemson coming as he does from Oregon. Clemson just doesn't get a lot of West Coast recruits. Africa, yes, England sure (Robertin Legend is from London). Otherwise, everyone else is from the Carolinas, Georgia, West Virginia or Maryland.

As always with Brownell, defense comes first. Clemson is going to play a tough, physical defense. You can reasonably expect Clemson's athletic frontcourt to give Duke trouble and fouls will be a big deal, as they will for Duke for the rest of the season.  Marshall Plumlee will continue to be a key for Duke and if he can maintain his recent play, it'll bode well for the Devils.

Clemson fans always get up for Duke, so expect a raucous gym as well. Are Duke's young players ready for it? Is Brandon Ingram ready for Blossomgame and co. to pound him? Are Duke's perimeter players ready to get bumped every time they move?

We're not suggesting anything, but Clemson is a very physical team. It's just Brownell's style. We'll never forget watching former Devil Nolan Smith, in Brownell's first game against Duke, throwing his arms up to the officials in frustration, and no wonder: it was like watching a pinball bounce around.

If Duke wins, the Blue Devils will remain one of the undefeated teams in the conference. If Clemson wins, Duke will fall to fourth place.