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DURHAM — And so the calendar turns to January. The ACC season begins in earnest, and the focus changes from offense to defense, from kids to veterans.

Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith scored 22 points apiece, and No. 7 Duke held No. 21 Clemson to just 12 points in the first half as the Blue Devils defeated the Tigers 74-53 in the ACC opener for both teams Sunday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Kyle Singler scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, playing all 40 minutes for Duke (12-1, 1-0).

"It's a new season," Scheyer said. "It's the first game of the ACC season, and that's what it was about for us. It was a good win for us. We knew it was a big game. You need to take care of your home court. It's a great step, a great first step."

Demontez Stitt scored 17 points for Clemson (12-3, 0-1), and Duke's defense held All-ACC power forward Trevor Booker to just 10 points and five rebounds. Stitt and Booker had just two points apiece in the decisive first half.

"Booker was a factor, he just wasn't as big a factor," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Booker's one of the best players in America, and he didn't have as much room to roam tonight. ... The nature of the game had an impact on him maybe more than our defense. He's terrific. If you're picking a team, you want Trevor Booker on your side."

The nature of this game was defense. Duke's defense forced Clemson into a half-court game, and the Blue Devils' experienced perimeter players didn't turn the ball over against the Tigers' full-court press.

It took Clemson 10:49 to score 10 points against Duke. Clemson went scoreless for the next 6:49, and Duke closed the first half on a 16-2 scoring run.

Singler scored seven points and Smith had five during the run. Scheyer scored just three points in the first half, but poured in 19 in the second.

Between them, Duke's experienced perimeter trio played all but four minutes.

"We have a lot of older guys, and for some of us it's our last trip around," said Scheyer, a senior. "So we're enjoying every time we get on the court, trying to take advantage of every opportunity. There's no game we're not excited to go play."

Trailing 30-12 at halftime, Clemson opened the second half with a 11-0 scoring run to cut the lead to seven.

Duke won with a counter punch: a 12-2 run over the next 3:30 to push the lead to 42-25.

Scheyer had a hand in all the points, scoring the first five and assisting Smith's layup. After Mason Plumlee put-back Scheyer's missed jumper, Scheyer stole the inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer from the corner.

"It was such a big play, but it was also what I call a (Larry) Bird play," Krzyzewski said. "You get it and, boom! You punish somebody right away. ... Jon did it right at the spur of the moment, and it's like a five-point play. We just scored two, and then he gets three more."

While Duke's veterans excelled, its kids mostly sat and watched. Freshmen Mason Plumlee, Andre Dawkins and Ryan Kelly combined to play just 17 minutes, scoring three points — all Plumlee's — on 1-for-6 shooting.

"It was a good experience for the freshmen, just to get their first taste of it against a really good team, a really physical team," Scheyer said. " ... It's hard. I remember my first game as a freshman in the ACC. It was a tough game against Virginia Tech, and I was thrown into the fire a little bit. With these guys, they can learn from us more. All those guys have talent. It's not about that. It's a matter of getting experience, and they'll keep building. You can see they're already getting better."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

CLEMSON (12-3) — Potter 1-3 1-2 4, T.Booker 4-11 2-3 10, Grant 3-4 5-7 11, Stitt 4-10 8-9 17, Smith 1-8 2-3 4, Johnson 2-5 0-0 5, Baciu 0-1 0-0 0, Young 0-2 0-0 0, Narcisse 0-0 0-0 0, Jennings 0-2 0-0 0, D.Booker 1-3 0-0 2, Hill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-49 18-24 53.

DUKE (12-1) — Singler 6-12 3-4 16, Mi.Plumlee 2-2 3-3 7, Thomas 2-4 0-0 4, Smith 7-11 6-8 22, Scheyer 6-13 7-8 22, Ma.Plumlee 1-4 1-2 3, Dawkins 0-2 0-0 0, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Zoubek 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 20-25 74.

Halftime—Duke 30-12.
3-point goals—Clemson 3-16 (Stitt 1-3, Potter 1-3, Johnson 1-4, Young 0-1, T.Booker 0-2, Smith 0-3), Duke 6-18 (Scheyer 3-8, Smith 2-5, Singler 1-4, Dawkins 0-1).
Fouled out—Grant, Zoubek.
Rebounds—Clemson 29 (T.Booker 5), Duke 33 (Singler 8).
Assists—Clemson 7 (T.Booker 3), Duke 12 (Scheyer 6).
Total fouls—Clemson 24, Duke 19.
A—9,314.