BLACKSBURG, Va. — Clemson University men’s basketball dropped its third consecutive contest of the season on the road at Virginia Tech, 65-58, on Wednesday night.
The Tigers (20-7, 9-6 ACC) held the Hokies (20-8, 9-6 ACC) to its lowest shooting percentage of the season. Virginia Tech came into the contest fourth in the country with a 51.1 percentage and Clemson’s defense held them to just 34.5 percent on Wednesday.
Marcquise Reed carried the Tiger offense with a career-best 28 points and also 10 rebounds on the night. It’s Reed’s third double-double of the season and second achieved with rebounds. The redshirt-junior made a career-high eight 3-pointers – tying the Clemson program record. The last Tiger to make that many in a game was K.C. Rivers on Feb. 7, 2008 at Virginia.
Elijah Thomas posted his eighth double-double of the season and the 10th of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds – giving him back-to-back double-doubles for the second time this season.
Clemson and Virginia Tech played the entire first stanza without either team building more than a three-point lead. The Hokies took a low-scoring 26-25 lead into halftime.
The Tigers engineered a 13-5 run to take a four-point lead- its largest of the game – at 38-34 with 13:43 left.
However, the Hokies would orchestrate a 25-7 run over the next 11:10 of regulation to build a game-high 14 point advantage.
Clemson battled back and closed to within just five points on the heels of an 8-2 run capped by a Gabe DeVoe three, but it wasn’t ultimately enough.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 24 when it hosts Georgia Tech and celebrates Senior Day. The game is slated for 3 p.m.
Notes: Clemson dropped its third consecutive game of the season … Clemson’s defense held Virginia Tech (fourth-best shooting percentage in the country entering the game) to its lowest percentage of the season (34.5) … Marcquise Reed set a new career-best with 28 points and made a career-high eight 3-pointers … the eight threes tied a program record and made Reed the first to accomplish that feat since K.C. Rivers on Feb. 7, 2008 at Virginia … with 10 rebounds it served as Reed’s third career double-double and second achieved with rebounds … Elijah Thomas posted his eighth double-double of the season and 10th of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds … it gives Thomas back-to-back double-doubles for the second time this season … with 11 threes, Clemson has now made 10+ 3-pointers in 11 games this season.