Clemson returned from a west coast trip with an opportunity to keep pace atop the ACC standings ahead of a huge road trip on Saturday. It appears that the Tigers were either jetlagged from their recent travel or too focused on looking ahead, as the Hokies of Virginia Tech waltzed into town and handled business, winning 76-66 in Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday night.
Defense was optional in the first half, as both teams traded buckets frequently. By the time we arrived at the under-8 timeout, both teams were
hovering around the 60% mark from the floor. The Hokies got some early bench points to help aid their offense, and Clemson could not stop the guard play off the ball screen. The Tigers looked sluggish on defense, but found enough offense to keep pace, and Clemson led by one at the under-4 media timeout.
Closing the half, the defensive woes continued for the Tigers. Clemson was outscored 11-3 after the last media timeout, including an Amani Hansberry three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hokies the 40-33 lead at the break, only the third time the Tigers have allowed 40 or more points in the first half this season.
Virginia Tech shot 59% from the floor in the first half, including a 7-for-11 mark from three, good for 64%. Clemson held the advantage in points in the paint and rebounds.
The Tigers came out with some new energy in the second half with a 5-0 run, capped by some fiery defense forcing three turnovers within the first three and a half minutes of the second half. That ended quickly, with the Hokies staying hot from three and taking advantage of Clemson turnovers to push their lead to eight points, their largest of the contest by the first media break of the half. At this point, it was clear the Tigers did not have their best stuff, and head coach Brad Brownell was doing everything he could to get his team going.
After the timeout, two free throws pushed the Hokie lead to double digits, and RJ Godfrey was called for a moving screen. The energy in Littlejohn Coliseum was nonexistent. Starters Jake Wahlin and Jestin Porter still had not scored, but as he has done all season, Nick Davidson, coming off the bench, nailed a 27-foot three-pointer, and the Tigers forced back-to-back stops to cut the lead back to eight.
Porter’s first points of the night came after a foul review on the Hokies, as the senior guard nailed the 25-footer to get the deficit back to five. After a missed three-pointer by Porter, Carter Welling snagged the rebound and got the putback to fall, but in the process, Welling rolled his ankle hard coming down and immediately had to come out of the game. Walling was the recipient of an elbow to the face just minutes before, and he would not return to the game for a few minutes.
A big story on the night was missed free throws. By the 10-minute mark, the Tigers had already missed four free throws and were shooting 59% from the stripe. Virginia Tech responded by pushing the lead back to eight points, and every time Clemson began to claw back into it, the Hokies were able to get a big bucket to kill any momentum. At the under-8 timeout, Tech was still shooting over 55%, including 50% from beyond the arc.
Back-to-back Hokie buckets and poor offensive play for Clemson pushed the Tech lead back to double digits. Welling came back into the game with four straight points, but some sloppy back-and-forth play cost both teams the opportunity for points. With 4:42 to play, the Hokies led 67-60.
After the final media timeout, the offenses were sluggish, and Welling was essentially the only offense Clemson could muster. After cutting the lead to five once again, the Hokies answered with yet another three-point make to turn the lights off on the Tigers. Clemson finished with seven missed free throws, while Tech went a perfect 13-for-13 to go alongside 11 three-pointers. The Tigers finished 5-for-16 beyond the arc. The Hokies led for over 70% of the game.
Ace Buckner made a three-pointer at the 8:10 mark to cut the lead to five. From there, no other Tiger scored a bucket besides Welling, who finished with the team’s final 10 points over the span of those eight minutes or so. Starting guards Jestin Porter and Dillon Hunter finished with six combined points on 1-of-13 shooting with just one assist between the pair. Outside of Welling’s 19 points, the only other offense came from Buckner and Nick Davidson off the bench, who each finished with 16 points.
Virginia Tech improves to 17-8 overall while Clemson falls to 20-5. The Tigers squandered a chance to take the lead from Duke in their game on Saturday at Cameron Indoor, where a loss could move Clemson from a tie for first place to fourth place in the ACC in the span of a few days. Things can change in an instant if you don’t bring your A-game each night.
Saturday’s tip at Cameron Indoor versus Duke is set for noon E.T. on ESPN.
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