The Clemson Tigers dominated the Virginia Tech Hokies, 72-57, on the road in an ever-crucial conference matchup at the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Virginia.
With the win, the Tigers (17-4, 9-1 ACC) stay within striking distance of the Duke Blue Devils for the No. 1 spot in the ACC.
Chauncey Wiggins had an especially efficient game, leading the Tigers in scoring with 16. Not far behind was Del Jones, who came off the bench to one of his best scoring games, putting 13 up on the scoreboard.
Jones led the charge from the Clemson bench, where the unit added 25 points as a whole, the most from the substitutes in the season so far.
The game started off with both teams trading buckets back and forth, with Clemson slowly peeling away from the Hokies in the latter part of the first half. The team didn’t look back, shooting almost 50% (48.3%) from the field and leading the Hokies in every category.
After the end of the first half, the Tigers had limited the Hokies (8-12, 3-6 ACC) to only four points in the paint. Clemson had 22.
The Tigers’ front court also played a huge role collectively to stifle the Hokies from the upset. Wiggins, Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin combined for 17 of the team’s total rebounds and held down the defensive end with only one of the Hokies scoring in double digits.
Head coach Brad Brownell and the team were without standout guard Chase Hunter in the opening half of the contest. Hunter was available to play, but was fighting an illness. The guard came off the bench in the second half and played 10 minutes in the win.
In the thick of conference play, the Tigers will be on the road again to face the NC State Wolfpack next Saturday.
