Tigers Win in Blacksburg Despite Star Player's Illness

Del Jones goes up for a layup in a 72-57 win at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Virginia on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Photo By: Charles Mays - Tiger View Media

The Clemson Tigers went on the road for the second straight Saturday at Virginia Tech in a must-win game for both squads. The Tigers needed to keep their resume clean, while the Hokies needed some momentum to close out a so-far disappointing season. Clemson was able to pull out a 72-57 win in Blacksburg despite some road obstacles to push their record to 17-4 (9-1) as they stacked another Quad 3 win. Coach Brownell and his squad have been plagued by illness this season, and coming into this game today, star guard Chase Hunter did not start due to an illness. The younger Hunter brother, Dillon, got the starting nod in place of Chase even after missing the Tigers’ game against Syracuse. As this game started off, the Hokies got on the board first via some free throws; however, Dillon Hunter quickly responded with a fadeaway jumper. Virginia Tech struggled to get anything going on offense, and a couple of points within the paint from Clemson put them up 6-2 four minutes into this contest. Coach Brownell’s defense shut down the Hokies from the field, while the Tigers cashed in two deep balls to push the lead to eight early in this matchup. Yet, Coach Mike Young’s squad did not let this early lead discourage them in this must-win matchup for them. They put in a few baskets from within the paint while hitting a corner three to decrease the Tiger lead to 16-13 under the twelve-minute timeout. Chauncey Wiggins had an early 5 points as he attempted to make the most of his opportunity to score with Chase Hunter out. Viktor Lakhin followed Wiggins' quick start, and the Russian looked to continue his great performance from Wednesday. Lakhin started perfect from the floor with 6 points, which helped push the Clemson lead to 22-16 at the nine-minute mark. At that minute mark, the Tigers were fouling a little too much, and they were just two fouls away from putting the home team in the bonus. The Hokies started to hit shots from behind the arc, and the home crowd started to get loud as Clemson’s lead fell to just 2 at the under eight-minute timeout. Virginia Tech took their first lead since 2-0 after another successful deep ball, but Chauncey Wiggins was able to get to the rim to tie the contest right back up. Jaeden Zackery hit his first three of the ball game to give Coach Brownell the lead back at 29-26 at the five-minute mark. Wiggins and Lakhin both cashed in two baskets to put them at 10 points and 8 points, respectively. Clemson responded quickly to the Hokies taking the lead, and the Tigers led 36-26 with three and a half minutes remaining in the first half. As the first half winded down, Clemson continued to strike by committee, and they finally tied Virginia Tech’s five first-half three-pointers after a Jake Heidbreder deep ball. His three-pointer was followed by three Hokie free throws that put Clemson’s lead at twelve. Clemson led 41-29 going into the locker room despite not having their best player, Chase Hunter. The road court did not seem to bother Clemson as they shot 60% from the floor and 46% from deep. Leading the Tigers in scoring is Chauncey Wiggins with 10 points, while eight different Tigers have scored. Coach Brownell’s squad also played a very smart first half with only three turnovers while getting good shot opportunities. Going into the second half, Clemson needed to keep the Hokies off the free throw line as they shot 12 compared to the Tigers’ 1, but Coach Brownell’s defense had the Hokies shooting 31% from the floor on their own court. Clemson’s first-half scoring leaders, Wiggins and Lakhin, got the party started during the latter half as well. Lakhin converted on a clean lob from Dillon Hunter, while Wiggins hit his third shot beyond the arc. Clemson committed back-to-back turnovers, and Virginia Tech put the Clemson lead at 47-34 four minutes into the second half. Despite a couple of unsuccessful offensive possessions, Clemson’s ability to find good quality shots pushed their lead to fifteen at the under sixteen-minute timeout. The home team slowed down the Tigers’ scoring for three minutes, and they decreased the Clemson lead to just ten points. Clemson’s scoring drought stretched to four minutes, and the Hokies decreased their deficit to just six. Junior Tobi Lawal led the way with big plays against Tiger star Ian Schieffelin. Lawal scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to increase his total to 9. Because of the scoring drought, Coach Brownell unleashed Chase Hunter into the contest for his first action of the day at the twelve-minute mark. He quickly fired up three shots behind the arc but was unsuccessful in all attempts. Virginia Tech continued to battle from within, and they cut the deficit to just four. Clemson ended their scoring drought with free throws from Jaeden Zackery, which needed to spark their offense. Wiggins put the ball back in the basket from the corner as he hit his fourth three of the day. That three-pointer from Wiggins was just Clemson’s fourth field goal in the latter half (4-17) down to the nine-minute mark. Clemson got into the bonus at the eight-minute mark, and they led 57-49 during the under eight timeout. Chase Hunter got his first points on a fastbreak layup after a forced steal, but the Hokies quickly followed it with a deep ball to keep the Clemson lead at eight. Del Jones reached his career high of points at 11 at the five-minute mark to push Clemson’s lead to thirteen. Jones followed that career-high bucket with another as he pushed his total to 13. Back-to-back Schieffelin buckets seemingly ended Virginia Tech’s chances as Clemson went up 72-53. Virginia Tech scored a couple of garbage-time buckets to push the game total to 72-57. Coach Brownell’s squad continued to pull away from the Hokies as the final minutes winded down in Blacksburg, VA. The Tigers got it done today by committee in their 15-point win. Clemson defended very efficiently as only one opposing player scored in double digits, while the Tigers had four players in double digits. With Chase Hunter playing only about eight minutes, we saw Clemson’s supporting cast step up. Big performers were Chauncey Wiggins, Viktor Lakhin, and Del Jones. Those three combined for 40 points en route to this victory. Clemson returns to action this coming Saturday at N.C. State with a break during the midweek this week.