CLEMSON, S.C. – Kerry Blackshear Jr. scored 17 points, but it wasn't enough, as No. 11 Virginia Tech fell 59-51 to Clemson in an ACC game played Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.
With the loss, the Hokies fell to 18-5 overall, 7-4 in the ACC. Clemson moved to 15-8, 5-5 in league play.
Shelton Mitchell scored 22 points for the Tigers, who led the entire second half. Mitchell hit 7 of 14 from the floor, including five 3-pointers on a day in which the Tigers connected on 11 of 28 from beyond the 3-point line.
Tech shaved a four-point deficit at halftime to one, 41-40, on a jumper by Blackshear with 12:29 remaining and had three opportunities to take the lead. But the Hokies turned the ball over twice and Blackshear missed a jumper, and then the Tigers scored the next six points – on back-to-back 3-pointers by Marcquise Reed and Tyson Hunter, with the latter pushing the Tiger lead to 47-40 with 9:28 remaining.
After that Blackshear jumper, the Hokies struggled from the floor, making just two field goals the rest of the game. Tech shot just 28.3 percent from the floor and stayed in the game by going 16 of 17 from the free-throw line.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 13 points for the Hokies, while Ty Outlaw finished with 10.
QUOTES TO NOTE
Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams
(On Clemson's defense)
"All credit to Coach [Brad Brownell], to their program, to their staff. I thought they defended us incredibly well. You could tell that they were prepared for all the different things we were trying to do."
(On the team's performance being a byproduct of not having Justin Robinson)
"I think it's a credit to Clemson. Arguably, they're the hottest team in the league. Other than the last possession against NC State, they could have been on a four-game winning streak. Instead it was three. They're playing at a very high level. Maybe their record indicated that they started slow, but they also played some of the best teams in the country."
(On the field-goal shooting in the final 10 minutes)
"We took six bad shots. That's a little too high in a low-possession game for us. Fifty-eight possession game and six bad shots – or what we define as a bad shot – is too high of a percentage. We've been doing a pretty good job with that, but again, credit to Clemson defensively for forcing us into that."
(On reinventing the team with Justin Robinson out)
"I think they're trying incredibly hard. Statistically, it doesn't show that we were more efficient offensively, but I think our paint-touch percentage was much better – 73 percent of the time we got it in the paint, which is what we want to do. I think our staff and our guys are trying really hard to do what we want to do."
GAME NOTES
• Tech again played without point guard Justin Robinson and post player P.J. Horne. Robinson has missed three straight games, while Horne has missed six straight.
• Blackshear has scored in double figures in 18 of 23 games this season.
• Tech's field-goal shooting percentage was its lowest of the season. The Hokies' five 3-pointers were tied for their fewest in a game this season.
UP NEXT
Tech returns to action Wednesday when it takes on Georgia Tech at Carilion Clinic Court. The game tips off at 8 p.m.