Clemson broke an 11-game losing streak to Virginia Wednesday night by playing back-breaking defense in a 67-50 win in Charlottesville. The Tigers won their fourth in a row to improve to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. They are now off until December 29th when they host Duke.
The Tigers defensively handcuffed the Cavaliers for much of the second half. The Tigers led 35-27 at the break. Virginia pulled to within 37-35 with 17:34 to play and then went 10:36 before making another basket. By then Clemson had extended the lead to 56-42. And for good measure, Clemson held Virginia to just one more basket over the final 6:31. The Cavaliers were 5-23 (21.7%) from the floor in the second half.
Clemson had no such offensive issues. The Tigers shot 47.5% for the game including eight three-pointers. They scored 24 points off 14 Virginia turnovers, outscored the Cavs 22-12 in the paint and got 17 points of the bench to zero for the Cavaliers.
Hunter Tyson continued his recent excellent play leading Clemson with 17 points on 6-10 shooting. David Collins recorded his third career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. PJ Hall also knocked down 11 points. For Virginia, 33 of their 50 points came from Reece Beekman (20) and Armaan Franklin (13).
The Tigers will get two days off for Christmas and return for practice on the night of December 26th.
