After a much-needed victory against Louisville earlier in the week, Clemson will face a streaking Virginia team trying to play its way into NCAA Tournament consideration Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Virginia (16-5 overall, 7-3 conference) enters the weekend as one of the ACC’s hottest teams, having won each of its last five games — all by six points or more.
The Cavaliers defeated Notre Dame, 65-53, on Wednesday night to move into third place in a crowded conference where only No. 3 North Carolina has stood out all season.
Virginia sank 13-of-24 3-point attempts in its win over Notre Dame, punctuated by Reese Beekman’s 21 points. Beekman is the Cavaliers’ leading scorer this season with an average of 13.3 points per game. He’s also averaging six assists per game.
For its part, Clemson (14-6, 4-5) held off a last-place Louisville team that was down by 24 points at one point in the second half before making a late charge and getting to within four points of tying the game. PJ Hall led the Tigers with 25 points, marking the 10th time this season he has scored 20 or more in a game.
Chase Hunter added 16 to carry him over 1,000 points for his Clemson career.
The Tigers have yet to win back-to-back games since ACC play resumed on Jan. 3. They’ve also been struggling with getting shots to fall, particularly at home — something coach Brad Brownell acknowledged after his team shot 43 percent from the floor against Louisville and was only 5-for-21 from 3-point range.
“I don’t know that I know,” Brownell said when asked about the team’s cold shooting at home. “I don’t think you make a mountain out of a molehill. We’ve done a lot of shooting (in practice). Guys are coming in and shooting with coaches before practice, after practice, during the day. You just kind of work your way through it.”
The Tigers still have some time to work through things, but they’ve slipped noticeably in the past month. Once ranked No. 16 in the nation, Clemson has fallen completely out of the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 polls in recent weeks.
Series Notes and Recent History
Virginia leads the all-time head to head series, 82-52. The two schools met twice last year — once in the regular season and again in the postseason. Virginia won both contests, a 64-57 victory in Charlottesville and a 76-56 rematch in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
How To Watch
Here’s a look at how and where Clemson fans can watch, listen, and stream Saturday’s game vs. Virginia.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 3
Time: 2 p.m. EST
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum
TV Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App | SiriusXM (Channel 193)
Broadcast Teams
ESPN: Kevin Brown, Chris Spatola
Clemson Radio: Don Munson, Tim Bourret