Furious rally falls short as Clemson falls 67-65 at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. — – After Tanner Smith’s last-ditch 3-pointer fell off the back of the rim and harmlessly to Cassell Coliseum’s floor, Andre Young put his head down and let out an angry exclamation.

You really can’t blame him. Three days after Groundhog Day, the Tigers’ frustrating season wrote another eerily similar chapter here Saturday.

Another close game. Another chance to win. And another disappointing miss.

Smith’s 3-pointer from the left corner bounced off the right side of the rim, and Virginia Tech held off Clemson’s furious rally for a 67-65 win. The Hokies improved to 13-10, 2-6 in ACC play, while Clemson fell to 11-11, 3-5.

The Tigers’ road trip to Virginia ended with a pair of losses to the Cavaliers and Hokies by a combined six points, continuing a season-long trend. Clemson is now 1-7 in games decided by five points or less. Four of its five ACC defeats have come by a total of 11 points.

Their rally from a 14-point deficit with 5:50 left fell tantalizingly short. Clemson made only two of 17 3-pointers, and senior guards Smith and Young combined to make eight of 27 shots.

“We can’t wait that long to decide to get involved in a fight,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said, using a boxing metaphor. “We were too many rounds behind tonight. It was eight to one after nine rounds. We won a few in the end but we got beat on points. We didn’t get it done early on.”

Seth Greenberg’s Hokies gave Clemson a standing eight-count, a desperate team that entered losers seven of its last eight.

Clemson trailed Virginia Tech 42-28 after being completely outclassed over the first 20 minutes.

Following one of their worst efforts of the season – a 75-60 loss to No.7 Duke that saw the Blue Devils lead by as many as 22 in the second half – the Hokies played inspired, energetic ball, racing to a 16-5 lead eight minutes in and forcing Brownell to burn a timeout to quell the rally.

The Hokies made every effort and hustle play. On a missed 3-pointer, guard Marquis Rankin flew in from the right side of the lane, tipped in the rebound and got fouled by Young for good measure, completing the 3-point play.

Guard Erick Green had nine first-half points, but none came easier than the putback of his own miss in the lane without a Clemson defender around him.

Forward Jarrell Eddie capped the fun by nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key over Bryan Narcisse, getting fouled in the process and completing the four-point play for a 34-17 lead with 3:23 left.

“They came out with great energy and executed well, and for whatever reason, our team wasn’t quite ready to match their intensity,” Brownell said. “We had great practices and a great walk-through yesterday. But offensive rebounds and transition killed us in the first half.”

For the first 16 minutes of the second half, Tech’s lead hovered between 12 and 14 points.

“We were on our heels for a while,” Brownell said. “We were a knockout punch away. Give our guys credit for battling.”

Freshman forward Bernard Sullivan’s 3-point play sparked a rally.

Freshman guard/forward K.J. McDaniels got a layup and dunk on back-to-back possessions, cutting the lead to five with 72 seconds left.

Dorenzo Hudson’s throwaway gave Clemson the ball right back, and McDaniels converted a third-opportunity rebound into a dunk, cutting the lead to three.

Hokie guard Erick Green – an 86.1 percent free throw shooter – made one of two shots, and Tanner Smith’s jumper trimmed the lead to 67-65 with 26.4 to play.

Following a timeout, Hokie forward Victor Davila missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Clemson had a chance to tie or take the lead.

Brownell called a timeout and set up a play for McDaniels – who had a career-high 14 points in his first career start – to drive for a game-tying layup or, at worst, get fouled.

He drove the right side of the lane, and Jarell Eddie hacked him hard with 3.3 seconds to play.

Two free throws, with a chance to tie.

The first bounced off the back of the rim, and Brownell told McDaniels to miss intentionally.

He did, and the rebound was tipped to Smith in the left corner. His shot bounced off the back of the rim, and the Hokies survived.

“I have to work harder, practice harder, shoot more free throws,” McDaniels said. “I just have to bounce back.”

He got encouragement from Smith, too.

“Tanner told me, ‘You’ve got a lot of career left. Keep working hard,’” McDaniels related. “Me stepping up, I believe I brought enough energy and I need to keep working.”

At this point, that’s all the Tigers can do. The tight defeats are frustrating, but a young team sees no option beyond more work.

“Most of our games have been down to the wire, two, three plays,” Sullivan said. “That means there’s still hope. We’ve got to keep pressing, keep getting better to get over that hump of losing by two or three plays, and losing while playing hard for 36 minutes instead of 40.”