No. 12 Cavaliers Carve Up Tigers, 102-74 |
CLEMSON -- Forgetting falls under the category of things easier said than
done. Clemson coach Larry Shyatt, minutes after he said he would like his team to "whitewash" its memory of Clemson's worst home loss in ten years, sat in his office reviewing the game. "The important thing is whitewashing it," he said. "We've got to lace it up against Florida State on Wednesday night." If there's a silver lining that can be clung to by any of the 8,400 at Littlejohn Coliseum that watched Clemson's 102-74 loss to Virginia, it could be that Shyatt didn't toss the tape in the trash can when he crossed the street to his office. Virginia thrashed Duke similarly (109-66) in the ACC tournament in 1983. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, when it was suggested by his sports information director at dinner on the way back to Durham that he forget about it, raised his glass and said, "Here's to never forgetting about tonight." Krzyzewski was in his third season at Duke at the time, just finishing an 11-17 season. Shyatt doesn't remind anyone of Krzyzewski. The team isn't playing defense with the kind of passion that Virginia coach Pete Gillen mentioned after the game ("It's eighty percent effort," he said). Shyatt, however, isn't likely going to forget things as easily as said his team should. Forty-five minutes after the game, Shyatt had rewound the tape to the beginning, which is where Clemson's problems started. The Tigers (10-10 overall, 1-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) were never in the game. They trailed by nine (21-12) after nine minutes and then didn't score for another seven minutes. No. 12 Virginia (14-4, 3-4) ran off 15 straight points to take a 36-12 lead after a 3-pointer by Keith Freil with 5:17 left in the first half. Clemson's Will Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer, scored his first points on a 15-foot jump shot with 4:03 left in the half to cut the lead to 36-16. Virginia used 6-5 forward Adam Hall, along with all the help it could afford against Solomon, and he never was a factor. Clemson cut the lead to 15 early in the second half, but the kind of rally that Clemson has put up in several games this season never came. The Cavaliers built its lead to 72-46 after a layup by Hall with 12:49 left. Clemson's defense allowed Virginia to hit seven three pointers in the first half and then wasn't able to stop Virginia's inside game in the second half. "Early in the game they made just enough jump shots to spread us out," said Shyatt. Virginia's starting front three combined for 57 points, while guard Donald Hand added 20. "We played the best defense we've played all year and hit some shots," said Gillen. "Everybody contributed." Solomon, who came into the game averaging over 23 points a game, was held to just 10. Forward Chris Hobbs led Clemson with 28 and guard Tony Stockman added 13. "In warmups I felt my shot falling and when I took my first couple of shots and I was shocked that they were off, the shots that I normally make," said Solomon. "From there I think I got down on my self and I let my emotions take over." Solomon missed his first seven shots and Clemson didn't have a substitute from the outside. Shyatt said he took complete responsibility for the lopsided loss, but he noted that his team didn't play with the emotion that it has in previous games. "We didn't have the zip and the fire that we've had," he said. It was the fourth time in seven games that Clemson has given up more than 100 points. Before this season Clemson had not allowed 100 points in a game since 1994. It been a stretch of games Shyatt won't forget for a while.(13) Virginia 104, CLEMSON 76
VIRGINIA (14-4)
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