Sophomore guard Luke Kennard had to shake off a poor shooting start so two of No. 14 Duke’s freshmen made up the difference.
Jayson Tatum and Frank Jackson each joined Kennard by scoring 20 points as the fifth-seeded Blue Devils beat 12th-seeded Clemson 79-72 in an ACC tournament second-round game at Barclays Center on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils (24-8) advance to play fourth-seeded Louisville at 2:30 p.m on Thursday in the tournament quarterfinals.
Duke and Louisville met once in the regular season with the Cardinals winning 78-69 at home on Jan. 14.
[A frustrated Grayson Allen called for technical after slamming basketball]
Kennard, a first-team all-ACC guard, missed 10 of his first 13 shots.