CHARLOTTE - In a couple of days, when the No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils look back at their 78-74 loss to third-seeded Clemson in the 2008 ACC Tournament semifinals at Bobcats Arena on Saturday, they say they will feel regret but not dwindling confidence.

"[Losing to Clemson] is not a confidence-killer because we have more basketball to play," Duke forward Lance Thomas said. "We have a lot to prove, so we have to get in the gym next week and go to work."

The regret stems from the fact that Clemson (24-8) earned the game Duke wanted, a rematch with top-seeded North Carolina today at 1 p.m. for the ACC title.

Clemson (24-8) used unrelenting defensive pressure to beat Duke, end a 22-game losing streak to the Blue Devils and earn just the second trip to an ACC title game in school history.

"I thought in a lot of ways it was the best game we played all year," said Clemson coach Oliver Purnell, who is on the cusp of taking a Clemson team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure.

"I really think like we're peaking at the right time, and I really can't think back on all the big plays, but I think we had that mentality and attitude of fighting," Purnell said.

Duke (27-5) will find out today whether it will be playing in an NCAA Tournament subregional in Raleigh or in Washington, D.C. D.C. was looking more likely after Duke ran into destiny wearing purple and orange.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't have any problems with how the Devils handled Clemson big men James Mays and Trevor Booker, who played with power and speed while combining for 34 points. Krzyzewski had no problem with the shots Duke took while shooting 6-for-26 from 3-point range.

"I have no complaints with my basketball team," Krzyzewski said. "Really, I think they played a [heckuva] game and lost to a [heckuva] team."

Clemson earned the praise after pressing and trapping throughout the first half and forcing Duke into 11 turnovers.

When Duke did manage to scramble past halfcourt, the Tigers cut off most of the Devils' angles to the hoop or the Devils rushed shots and turned it over.

Duke guard Greg Paulus was the only Devil able to make good against the Tigers' pressure, scoring 14 of his 17 before halftime.

Duke led by one at the half but quickly fell into an eight-point hole when K.C. Rivers hit a 3, then Booker scored on a dunk and a three-point play to open the second half.

Duke inched back and tied the score at 49 when sophomore Jon Scheyer was fouled trying to shoot a 3 and hit all three free throws with 11:43 left.

The game went back and forth, and Clemson led 67-60 after Terrence Oglesby's crowd-pleasing 3-pointer with 3:38 left, but Duke wouldn't retreat.

Scheyer was fouled and hit two free throws. Senior DeMarcus Nelson followed a Scheyer miss with a dunk, for two of his 14 points, off the offensive glass to cut the Clemson lead to three.

Clemson led 71-66 when Paulus hit a 3 with 48.1 seconds left to make it 71-69.

The Devils trailed by two and should have felt pretty good about their chances. Duke has pulled out a couple of games over Clemson in recent years with the Tigers playing tough but failing to hit free throws at the end.

Not on Saturday. Clemson, the ACC's worst free-throw shooting team (62.5 percent), made 11 of 12 in the final 10:12.

There was Mays (54.7 percent) knocking down six in a row in that interval. Cliff Hammonds (43.6 percent), who had 17 points, hit all four of his in the final 44 seconds to seal the win.

This loss won't go down easily for the Devils, who labored unsuccessfully to attack the hoop and saw teammate Kyle Singler, the ACC Rookie of the Year, battling on defense but still struggling on offense on tired legs.

Krzyzewski said one of his priorities when Duke returns to Durham is to get Singler and sophomore guard Gerald Henderson some rest. Henderson reaggravated his shooting wrist, but X-rays were negative.

"Our team is very confident," Nelson said. "We played a great game today against a great team. We just lost.

"It's up to us to continue to be confident and prepare for next week.We start the season all over. Everyone is 0-0. It doesn't matter what anyone has done to this point."

The players will also spend time reminding themselves that they're still as good as their 27 victories say they are. A year ago, while losing their final four games and exiting in the first round of the ACC and NCAA tournaments, that wasn't even an option.

"We've had a really good year, and we need to play like it," said Scheyer, who scored 13 points in the loss. "We need to know when we're a couple of plays from putting it away. That's just being smart and playing with poise."