Clemson comeback falls short in loss at Virginia

The bad version of the Clemson offense showed up Tuesday night at Virginia.

The streaky Tigers shot only 32 percent from 3-point range against the Cavaliers and ended up falling 64-57 in Charlottesville.

Clemson fell behind by as many as 14 points in the second half, before battling back to within 4 late. But ultimately Brad Brownell’s team couldn’t get over the hump.

“I thought both teams played exceptionally hard. They played a little better than we did,” Brownell said. “They’re very good defensively, and they’re hard to get a good rhythm against. … They were just a little bit tougher than we were on some certain plays. In a game like this, where you’re battling on the road in a difficult environment against a very good team that’s very hungry, you’ve gotta make a few more plays.”

The loss is a tough one for the Tigers as they would have been in a good position to win at least a share of the ACC with a victory at Virginia.

Instead, Clemson’s NCAA tournament resume took a hit with one game remaining in the regular season.

PJ Hall led the way for Clemson with 19 points and 9 rebounds, but Clemson made only 7 of 22 from 3-point range and was 3-for-12 from 3 in the first half.

Hall was 9-for-13 from the field, but Brownell said that Virginia did a good job of keeping him from getting more touches.

“Obviously Tony’s trying to keep it out of there. They’re pressuring us and doing different things,” he said. “They guarded us well. They doubled him a couple of times – kind of mixed their coverages. I’m sure we could’ve maybe thrown it one or two more times in there but didn’t get it done.

Hunter Tyson, Chase Hunter and Brevin Galloway, who are all averaging double figures, combined to shoot only 10 of 33 from the field.

Tyson was 3-for-11 from 3-point range after entering the game as a better than 42 percent shooter from behind the arc.

“Not all of them were good [shots],” Brownell said of Clemson’s 3-point attempts. “They pushed us out a little further. Hunter took a bad one at the end. That was a bad shot – bad, panic shot. I know he wanted to play well, and we wanted him aggressive. But some of it was definitely Virginia’s defense. … They close out well, they contest well.”

Clemson scored only 57 points for the game after putting up 55 in the first half Saturday at NC State.

Brownell was proud that his team didn’t quit, but falling behind by double digits became too much to overcome.

“There were a couple of times they had us by double figures, and I’m proud of our guys for just hanging back in there,” Brownell said. “We got down 14 in the second half, and then all of a sudden you look up – it’s a five-point game and we’ve got the ball. We’ve stolen a game like this this year.”

But the Tigers didn’t Tuesday night. Up next, Clemson will host Notre Dame on Saturday in what is Senior Day for the Tigers.