Clemson uses strong second half to push past Virginia on the road
Though Virginia basketball is a far cry from its glory days, no one expected the Clemson Tigers to have an easy time in Charlottesville on Saturday and that proved to be the case. Trailing 32-27 at halftime, the Tigers needed a big second half to power past the Cavilers 71-58 to pick up their sixth win in a row.
Clemson now sits at 24-5 overall and 16-2 in ACC play. The win extends the program’s single-season record for most conference wins and keeps the Tigers in second place in the league race. What’s more, it helped move Clemson closer to earning a coveted top-4 seed in this month’s NCAA Tournament.
Clemson gets another big game from Ian Schieffelin
Now back to full health after playing through a pair of nagging injuries, senior forward Ian Schieffelin is playing like an All-ACC performer again. He scored 21 points (13 in the second half) and grabbed 13 rebounds to help power his team’s second-half comeback.
This is the sixth time in the last seven games that Schieffelin has scored in double figures. It was also his second 20-point game in a row after he posted 24 against Notre Dame earlier this week.
Schieffelin was 8-11 from the floor meaning in his last two games he’s a combined 17-22 shooting. He is playing his best basketball of 2025 just in time for March and that’s bad news for anyone who comes across the Tigers this month.
Clemson owns the paint
This game was won inside. That’s where the Tigers separated themselves from the Cavilers on a day when star guard Chase Hunter scored only six points on 3-9 shooting.
Overall, Clemson outscored Virginia 48-24 in the paint. That’s an area where the UVA has struggled for most of the season and the Tigers exploited that weakness again.
Viktor Lakhin scored 14 points, many of which came inside the lane, to compliment Schieffelin’s brilliance. Thought that duo is capable of shooting the ball from deep, they attempted only two 3s between them as the emphasis was clearly to attack the rim.
What’s more, Clemson hammered the Cavs on the glass. They out-rebounded the home team 38-28 for the game thanks in large part to Schieffelin and Lakhin (who had eight rebounds himself).
Clemson unusually quiet from 3-point range
This season, Clemson has been one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country. However, on Saturday, the Tigers were just 1-10 from deep.
Their lone make came from backup guard Jake Heidbreder who was 1-4 from deep. Thus, it was fortunate that they had such an edge in the paint.
In the first half, when the Tigers were completely out of sorts on offense, they were only able to get two shots away from beyond the arc. Fortunately, that didn’t spell doom.
Part of the reason that this cold shooting day wasn’t fatal was that Virginia is such a poor offensive team that the Cavs couldn’t separate from Clemson early. But also, credit must be given to the Tigers for displaying versatility and demonstrating the ability to win a game in a manner that they haven’t had to all that often this season.
Usually, when Clemson has been at its best, it has been because of the Tigers’ ability to fill it up from deep. However, on Saturday, they were not as deadly as usual, but still, they found a way to grind out a road win.
