Clemson stayed perfect in ACC play Wednesday night with a 68-65 win at Virginia Tech. The Tigers are 4-0 in the league, their best start since the 1995-96 team opened ACC play with 5 straight wins. The Tigers will attempt to match that Saturday at Pittsburgh. They are now 12-3 overall.
This was a tight game throughout with an 8-point Clemson lead the largest for either team. That came with 8:50 to play on a three-pointer by Hunter Tyson. But the Tigers couldn’t hold the lead and the Hokies went back in front 58-57 with 5:44 left.
Over the next two minutes, both teams missed a pair of outside shots. PJ Hall then hit a turnaround jumper with 3:56 to play to put Clemson up for good at 59-58. Chase Hunter followed with a pair of free throws and a dunk off a turnover to put Clemson up 63-58.
Tech responded by scoring the next 4 points to make it 63-62 with :43 left. Hunter and Tyson combined for 4 free throws for a 67-62 lead with :15 to play. The Hokies got a three-pointer from Sean Pedulla to get back to within a point with :11 remaining.
Josh Beadle was fouled and made 1 of 2 at the line for a 3-point cushion with :07 to play. The Hokies got a final 3-point attempt from Pedulla but he was off the mark, as was a follow up 2-pointer by John Camden.
The Tigers shot 42% for the game and made 9 three-point shots. Their defense held Virginia Tech to a 31% shooting night, including 27% in the second half. The Hokies were 9-33 from the floor in the second half, though 5 of those makes were three-pointers.
Five Tigers scored in double figures with Tyson and Hall each with 13. Tyson, who played all 40 minutes, recorded his 7th double-double of the season by grabbing a team high 14 rebounds.