It was a Brutal Ending for Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson’s ACC Tournament came to a sudden close Wednesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Virginia Tech’s Darius Maddox drained a 3-pointer from the left-wing as time expired in overtime to down the 10th-seeded Tigers, 76-75, in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

"Obviously, brutal. Brutal ending," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said.

Clemson is still the only original member of the ACC that has not won an ACC Tournament Championship. The loss not only snapped the Tigers’ five-game winning streak, but they now have to wait to see if their late season push was enough to earn a bid into next week’s NIT.

PJ Hall had an opportunity to give Clemson (17-16) a three-point lead with six seconds to play, but he made just one of two foul shots for a 75-73 lead. Al-Amir Dawes also had an opportunity to extend the Clemson lead to three points with 30 seconds to play, but he also made just one of two free throws.

Hall, who aggravated his left foot early in the second half, played through pain to, once again, lead the Tigers with 16 points. He also had five rebounds and three assists.

The sophomore forced overtime at 66-66 when he made a jump hook with 7.7 seconds to play in regulation. Hall’s hook shot capped a run that saw the Tigers go from 11 points down, 59-48, with 7:17 to go in regulation to force overtime.

"I am just incredibly proud of the way our guys competed," Brownell said. "Not just tonight, but throughout the season. Lot of adversity. Our guys just kept getting better and were coachable and working through things."

After Clemson grabbed its 62-61 lead, both teams traded baskets, including a three from Hokies' guard Storm Murphy with 18.9 seconds to go in regulation. That put his team up two points, 66-64.

But Hall tied the game with his jump hook to force overtime.

The Tigers appeared to be in control of the extra period when Hunter Tyson made a layup with two minutes to play and Hall followed with two free throws for a 73-72 advantage with 1:19 to play.

After a Virginia Tech miss, Dawes made one of two foul shots with 30 seconds to play and Hall did the same with six seconds to go.

Following a Chase Hunter jumper to give Clemson a 19-18 lead with 9:51 to play in the first half, the Hokies went on a 14-3 run to grab a 10-minute lead at 32-22.

Virginia Tech led 43-32 at the break.

"We did not play as well for a while tonight. I thought Virginia Tech was really good in the first half," Brownell said. "They controlled the game, but our guys just kept hanging in there and made some really good basketball plays at the end of the game.

"I thought Naz [Bohannon] and the group that was out there in the middle of the second half really energized us and gave us the chance to have a comeback. And then I thought my team played great."

Virginia Tech led by as many as 14 points in the second half before the Tigers came storming back to force overtime.

Clemson went on a 14-2 run during a six-minute stretch to take a 62-61 lead when Nick Honor buried a 3-pointer from the left side with 1:13 to play in regulation.

Keve Aluma led Virginia Tech and all scorers with 19 points. Murphy added 15 points.

Chase Hunter finished with 13 points for Clemson, while Tyson and David Collins added 12 points each.

"This is painful," Brownell said. "I thought my guys played well enough at the end, especially, to win. We did not guard the last play very well, and they made a big shot. Congratulations to them."

The seventh-seeded Hokies (20-11) advance to play No. 2 Notre Dame Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

Key Moment: Virginia Tech’s Darius Maddox drained a 3-pointer from the left-wing as time expired in overtime to down the Tigers, 76-75.

"Obviously, we talked about no threes. If they go by us and they make a two, that is fine, but we don't want any threes," Brownell said. "We sandwiched the point guard to try and take it out of the PG's hand. We kind of did that with Michael Devoe a couple of games ago against Georgia Tech and it worked.

"Darius is not a guy who is a heavy dribble guy, so they threw it into Darius. We picked him up, but just kept backing up. We, obviously, talked about, 'Hey if they screen, we are switching. If they go screen what we are doing.' All these scenarios. At the end of the day, they just threw it to a guy and he dribbled up and shot it over our guy."

Player of the Game: Playing most of the second half and overtime banged up, PJ Hall scored 16 points to lead the Tigers. He also had five rebounds and three assists.

Stat of the game: Clemson outscored the Hokies 11-2 in points off turnovers.

Injuries: PJ Hall aggravated his left foot early in the second half and returned with about 10 minutes to go in regulation.

Up Next: The Tigers now have to wait and see if they did enough down the stretch to earn an NIT bid.

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