Clemson pulls away to snap lengthy series streaks at Virginia |
Clemson snapped an 11-game series losing streak and won its first game at Virginia since 2008 with a 67-50 victory over the Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Wednesday.
Brad Brownell entered the game 2-13 as Clemson’s head coach against the often defensive-minded Cavaliers, but he saw his team’s improved offensive efficiency this season shine through to even their ACC record (9-4, 1-1 ACC). Clemson led by as much as 10 points in the first half thanks to some hot shooting and some Virginia (7-5, 1-1 ACC) mistakes. Clemson hit its first three shots of the game – all 3-pointers – and sunk five treys in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers also scored 13 points off of eight Cavaliers turnovers in the session. Clemson finished with 24 total points off of turnovers. Reaching a 10-point lead with five minutes left in the first half, Clemson was hitting shots at just under a 60% clip, with sophomore PJ Hall (9) and senior Hunter Tyson (8) leading the way. Virginia guard Armaan Franklin hit a step-back jumper to cut the deficit to eight points at the break. Clemson extended the edge back out to 10 points off another Cavaliers turnover, but that momentum was short-lived as the home team mounted an 8-0 run to force a Clemson timeout with less than three minutes off the scoreboard. Virginia then went cold for an over-five-minute scoreless spell while the Tigers built the lead back out to nine points, and the Cavaliers went on to sink just two field goals from that Clemson timeout-on. "I thought the telltale part of the game was they come out of halftime and make that run at us and cut it to two and the crowd is getting going," Brownell said, "and we call a timeout to regroup and tell the guys: 'We're not changing a thing. Stay with what we're doing and keep doing it and do it better. Like we did in the first half.' And I think we did that most of the rest of the game." An Al-Amir Dawes’ jumper and an Alex Hemenway 3-pointer extended Clemson’s edge to 14 points with 10 to go, as the Cavaliers’ shots continued to miss. Virginia did not hit a shot from the field for over 11 minutes in the second half. Last season, Virginia topped Clemson 85-50 in the teams' only meeting. "It's funny, even though we played terrible last year (against Virginia). We went back and looked at the film and the first 10 minutes, we had like 5-or-6 wide-open 3s," said Brownell. "We ran our stuff and got it right where we wanted it -- and wide-open 3 -- miss. It just demoralizes you when you play a really good defense. And then all of a sudden you press a little bit and it gets hard. Like you saw with them today. They pressed a little bit when they were down. They had some open shots and it just gets hard sometimes." The win broke a run of eight consecutive losses at John Paul Jones Arena for Clemson. Tyson led the Tigers in scoring (17), joined there by Hall (11) and David Collins (11). Clemson finished shooting 47.5% from the field, while holding the Cavaliers to 36.6% shooting and 27.3% from 3. "We had a lot of guys play good basketball tonight," Brownell said. Clemson returns to action in Littlejohn Coliseum on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. versus No. 2 Duke (ACCN). ???????????????? 3?????? @AlDawes33 pic.twitter.com/FVUnThawer .@pjhall020 ?????? pic.twitter.com/tjKlefMSfw HUGE transition ?? by @HemenwayAlex #ClemsonGRIT pic.twitter.com/feoyn3xQTk .@h_tyson5 is putting on an offensive clinic tonight Merry Christmas?? pic.twitter.com/YEBndSNjYV Clemson 67 ?? Virginia 50#ClemsonGRIT ?? @ClemsonMBB @GEICO pic.twitter.com/Luboulefd8
17 points off of 6-10 shooting?? #ClemsonGRIT pic.twitter.com/t8FgcvRTlX
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
