• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

No. 17 Virginia gets past Clemson

Feb 16, 2014 - 12:53 AM Clemson, SC (SportsNetwork.com) - Malcolm Brogdon scored nine of his 14 points in the second half, including four critical free throws in the final 16.7 seconds, to send 17th-ranked Virginia to a 63-58 win over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Joe Harris nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 16 to lead the Cavaliers (21-5, 12-1 ACC), who notched their ninth straight victory and snapped a four- game skid at Clemson.

Mike Tobey matched Brogdon with 14 points and Anthony Gill added 12 off the Virginia bench.

K.J. McDaniels had 24 points in the Tigers' (15-9, 6-6) season-worst third consecutive loss. No other Clemson player scored more than seven. The Tigers were missing starting center Landry Nnoko, who was out with the flu.

"It's obvious Landry would have helped us, but I don't like talking about that because it takes away from the players that do play," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "Those guys fought today and did some good things for us, Josh (Smith) and Sidy (Djitte), and competed hard. We were in position to win without Landry, but we just didn't get it done."

Trailing by six, the Cavaliers went on an 8-0 run to grab the lead for good. Harris tied it at 43-43 with a shot from beyond the arc and a Brogdon jumper put Virginia ahead with about six minutes to play.

After nearly turning the ball over on the inbounds pass, Clemson got within 59-58 on a McDaniels 3-pointer with 21.1 seconds remaining.

Brogdon was then fouled and he sank both free throws to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead.

"He was very poised and he has a quietness in his mind when he steps up there," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Brogdon. "It was significant because they hit a big three to bring it within reach. It was a battle. We knew it would be a tough game and we knew we'd have to bring it and compete like heck to be in this. That was the mindset."

Jordan Roper looked to tie the game on the next Clemson possession, but his hurried 3-point attempt was off the mark. Brogdon was fouled again after securing the rebound and sealed the win at the charity stripe with 8.9 seconds left.

The Tigers got off to a red-hot start shooting the ball against the nation's No. 1 scoring defense, opening 6-for-6 from the field. Clemson then went cold after a Damarcus Harrison trey made it 21-14.

Virginia, meanwhile, heated up and Harris hit two 3-pointers during a 12-0 run. His second trey gave the Cavaliers their first lead at 24-21 and a Gill jumper capped the surge with roughly four minutes remaining.

A tip-in at the buzzer by Tobey put the Cavaliers up 31-28 at halftime.

Clemson made only five of its final 16 shots in the opening frames following its sizzling start, while Virginia shot 63.6 percent against the country's second-best scoring defense.

Game Notes

The Cavaliers won their first game at Clemson since Jan. 28, 2007. They had lost the previous four meetings by an average of 17 points ... Virginia has won nine straight ACC games for the first time since 1981-82. That's also the most recent season the program opened 12-1 in conference play ... Harris moved into second place on Virginia's all-time list for made 3-pointers. He now has 241. Curtis Staples (1995-98) owns the school record with 413 ... Virginia shot 47.9 percent for the game and held Clemson to 42.9 ... The Cavaliers owned a 33-20 rebounding advantage.