It was an unusually warm winter in North Carolina in 1982. In fact, Clemson showed up in Durham on the warmest day in February: the 24th reached a touch of over 80 degrees. Earlier in the season, Duke had beaten Clemson 50-44 in a defensive dogfight and Clemson was hot in more ways than one. The Tigers could not tolerate being beaten at their own country house. Interestingly, this was the only ACC game in ’81 -’82 that was even featured in overtime.
Taylor deserves a little respect
Vince Taylor was one of the few players to serve under both Coach Bill Foster and Coach Kryzewski, playing two years each. Kryzewski had changed him from wing guard to point guard in 1981, but he was able to adjust to the change without a hitch. You may not see Vince Taylor’s name on Duke’s elite lists of highlights, but he deserves genuine recognition. Taylor’s last year at Duke was excellent, shooting more than 50% from the floor and leading the ACC in points per game at 20.3.
About Taylor’s corpse
It was senior day, Taylor’s last home game for Duke, and his teammates had never seen him so excited. The game was a killer from the first minute. The scoreboard was balanced at all times and neither team was able to establish a considerable advantage. The only other Duke player to score significant points was Chip Engelland at 16. It essentially became a test of Vince Taylor’s will. Every time it looked like Clemson was going to run away, Taylor put out the fire with a score. Regulation ended in a tie, then the first and second overtime periods were tied. Taylor must have given his parents that stubborn streak – he just refused to lose.
Final minutes of a great
By the third overtime, Taylor had to be tired as a dog. He had played about 50 minutes and hit 16 of 25 shots. With 3:33 remaining in regulation time, Clemson’s Mike Eppley hit a 20-foot shot to tie the score at 70. Duke’s Tissaw made one of two free throws to put the Blue Devils ahead, but Fred Gilliam responded. with a shot at 2:05 to score. is 72-71. Taylor missed a jump shot, then fouled the Tigers’ Vince Hamilton with 51 seconds left. However, he caught the rebound when Hamilton missed the front one-on-one. Taylor made a final jump with 27 seconds remaining. Hamilton tried to fight his way onto the track and score singlehandedly, but Taylor slapped him and in the wild fight, Hamilton got a whistle for a fatal travel call. The game was over, Duke had won it 73-72. Vince Taylor left the court after scoring 35 huge points in the victory, along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.