Field Level Media
Jan 16, 2021
Sam Hauser and Tomas Woldetensae scored 14 points apiece and No. 18 Virginia rolled past No. 12 Clemson 85-50 Saturday at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum to continue its recent mastery of the Tigers.
The victory was Virginia's 11th in a row against Clemson, which hasn't defeated the Cavaliers since 2013.
Virginia improved to 9-2 overall and 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference in winning its fifth consecutive game. Clemson slipped to 9-2 (3-2 ACC) and had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Clemson was playing its first game in 11 days following a positive COVID-19 test and subsequent contact tracing, and it showed.
The Tigers made just one of their first 14 shots and fell behind 18-2 at the outset. The Cavaliers eventually pulled ahead by 24 points, 31-7, with 4:40 left in the first half before Clemson closed the half on an 8-0 run to pull within 16.
Clemson cut the deficit to 14 by scoring the first basket of the second half, then Virginia took command. The Cavaliers proceeded to make 17 of their first 19 shots of the second half, including nine in a row from 3-point range, to push their lead to 33 with 9:41 left in the game.
Clemson entered the game ranked No. 1 in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing 57.6 points per game, but Virginia surpassed that with a Hauser 3-pointer with 13:37 remaining.
The Cavaliers, who entered the game leading the league in field goal percentage (.497) gave that number a boost by shooting 60.7 percent from the floor, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from beyond the arc.
Hauser made 5-of-7 shots from the floor while Woldetensae, whose season high was eight points, also made 5-of-7 shots.
Trey Murphy III made all five of his shots from the floor and added 13 points while Jay Huff and Kihei Clark each chipped in 12. Virginia outrebounded Clemson 33-21.
Clemson did not have a player in double figures and leading scorer Aamir Simms managed only two points on 1-of-9 shooting. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts and Clemson made 5-of-23 from long range.
The Tigers' leading scorer was freshman forward P.J. Hall with eight points.
--Field Level Media