Snap judgments as Tigers fall to Virginia after lengthy break

CLEMSON — Nearly two weeks after beating Virginia by double digits on the road, Clemson struggled down the stretch in a 75-65 loss to the Cavaliers Tuesday night.

Clemson led 57-56 with 8:08 remaining in the game before going cold as Virginia grabbed control with an 11-2 run.

Clemson scored only 8 points the final 8 minutes of the game and made only two field goals during that stretch. The Tigers went nearly 7 minutes without a field goal late in the second half.

“A lot of credit to UVA. I thought they played very well, and I thought we played pretty well. Just not good enough,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We played a good team that executed extremely well tonight.”

Here are some quick takeaways from the loss:

Tigers legs looked tired late

Several shots and even free throws fell short in the second half, which is understandable after not playing a game for nearly two weeks. Brad Brownell tried his best to have his team game-ready after 13 days off, but he also admitted that there’s nothing you can do in practice to replicate playing in a game.

Brownell wasn’t interested in making excuses following the loss, but the Tigers shot 36 percent from the field in the second half after shooting 56 percent from the field in the first. The long layoff and physicality of Virginia likely led to the poor shooting.

“They make you grind. Guarding them is hard because of how much they make you chase and run,” Brownell said. “That part wears on your guys a little bit, and that can sometimes lead to last 10 minutes of the game, you get shots and you don’t make them because you’re a little tired.”

Virginia has improved

Tony Bennett is one of the best coaches in college basketball, and this Virginia team looked much better than the one the Tigers faced a couple of weeks ago. In that game, the Cavaliers really struggled shooting, but on Tuesday, Virginia shot 48 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Jayden Gardner scored 23 points for the Cavaliers, while Armaan Franklin added 13. Virginia scored 34 points in the paint.

“It just comes down to defense,” Brownell said. “Our defense wasn’t good enough tonight. You’re not going to beat Virginia when they score 75. That number’s gotta be in the low 60s.”

Clemson students being gone hurt

The crowd was small and not very vocal, which is understandable for a 9 p.m. game on a school night. Students are gone for Christmas break, and they were very much missed. Littlejohn Coliseum can be a tough place to play when the crowd is into the game, and Clemson players feed off that energy. They missed it Tuesday night.

“Winning is hard. These games are hard. These games come down to a few possessions, a couple minutes,” Brownell said. “I’m not disappointed in my team at all. Our team played pretty well tonight. We didn’t play poorly. They played better. They just played better down the stretch than we did. It was a good basketball game.”