The ACC’s second ranked Clemson Tigers (17-4) dominated the paint on both offense and defense on their way to a fifth straight victory with a 72-57 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies (8-12).
Exactly half of the Tigers’ points came in the paint, and on the other end, they were able to keep the Hokies in front of them and force tough contested jumpers. Virginia Tech ended with 20 points in the paint; only four of which came in the first half.
“We kept the ball out of the post,” said Clemson head coach Brad Brownell. “I thought we were sharp and ready to play.”
The Hokies premier post presence, Mylyjael Poteat, was largely a non-factor scoring just four points and going scoreless in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers bigs fronted the post and when Poteat or Tobi Lawal would get it inside, Clemson’s guards would promptly double down.
While Lawal was able to generate some success in the interior in the second half, the Tigers limited his effectiveness by sending him to the line, where he went just two for eight. This included one play where it appeared the Tigers intentionally went hack-a-Lawal quickly off the inbounds when the Hokies were already in the bonus.
“He’ll (Lawal) be fine,” Mike Young said of his leading scorer's struggles from the stripe. “I have great confidence in him.”
Despite the seemingly comfortable outcome for Clemson, Virginia Tech put pressure on the Tigers on multiple occasions with big runs.
The first came at the midway point of the first half where the Hokies drained five threes in less than six minutes, capped off by a Brandon Rechsteiner trey to give the Hokies a 26-24 lead with 6:39 to go in the half.
Clemson quickly answered with an even more impressive 17-3 run to end the half and take a 13 point lead into the break.
Right when it seemed as if the game was going to get out of hand, the Hokies rattled off 11 unanswered to turn a 15-point deficit into a 49-45 ball game with 10:10 remaining.
Once again, Clemson responded. For the first time all night, Brownell put in his star player, Chase Hunter, who had been battling the flu for the last couple days. Hunter didn’t score with his typical efficiency but his presence opened up the floor for his teammates and flipped the game in the Tigers favor.
The Tigers built up a lead to as much as 19 points over the following eight minutes and ran away with the victory.
“It’s what good teams do,” Young said of Clemson’s ability to bounce back from runs. “We played with good poise,” Brownell agreed.
With Chase Hunter playing only 10 minutes, secondary scorers such as Chauncey Wiggins (16) and Del Jones (13) stepped up with double-digit scoring performances. Lawal was the only Hokie to reach double figures.
Despite the loss, there were positives Virginia Tech can take from the game.
“We were as good defensively as we have been to that point against a really impressive offensive unit from Clemson,” said Young. “We did a better job keeping a body on a body. Hedges, quickness to the ball (and) shot contests were better.”
Once again, the problem lies in finding that consistency and solid play for a full 40 minutes rather than small increments throughout the game.
With the loss, the Hokies were once again unable to beat a good team and are just 0-4 in quadrant one games and 1-6 in quadrant two games.
Clemson returns to the hardwood at 1:30 p.m. on February 1st to take on the NC State Wolfpack. The Hokies look to end a three-game skid as they fly down to the sunshine state to take on the Florida State Seminoles (13-7) at 7 p.m. on January 29th.
