Clemson vs Virginia Basketball Recap

Clemson 72, Virginia 49

Clemson's Saturday stomping of Virginia wasn't dramatic or suspenseful. The next few weeks will be an altogether different matter.

Before the Tigers hit the road in order to sew up an NCAA Tournament berth, they took care of business in their next to last home game of the season. Playing in the friendly atmosphere of Littlejohn Coliseum, Coach Oliver Purnell's pupils pummeled a dead-tired Virginia club in South Carolina.

The win isn't a great one, especially since coach Tony Bennett's Cavaliers are tumbling in the ACC standings, but it sure beats a loss. Moreover, the triumph lifts Clemson to a 7-5 record in the ACC with four regular-season conference games remaining. When one realizes the extent to which many bubble teams are playing their way out of the NCAA Tournament, Clemson's headed in the opposite direction... for now. Limiting Virginia to 35 percent shooting, a meager two 3-pointers, and a puny total of five free throws will certainly send a good message to the Selection Committee that's soon to gather in Indianapolis for the purpose of consuming data and crunching a fat stack of numbers. Nevertheless, this unremarkable victory is merely a scene-setter that has prepared the stage for the next 14 days.

Clemson's ACC stretch run - now that Virginia's been put in the rearview mirror (and with a considerable degree of authoritativeness) - will test the toughness of the Tigers. Roadies at Maryland, Florida State, and Wake Forest - along with the Senior Night finale against Georgia Tech on March 2 - will pose four formidable challenges for Clemson. The bad news is that those games could all fall in the wrong column for this team, but the good news is that a win in any of those games will improve the portfolio of Purnell's ballclub.

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Clemson did beat Butler in non-conference play, but the Tigers lost to Texas A&M and Illinois to diminish the value of that one special scalp. In the ACC, Clemson whiffed twice against league heavyweight Duke and has achieved little of significance outside of a home win versus Maryland. Clemson is still waiting to notch a really big road win in league play, so these three upcoming visits to College Park, Tallahassee, and Winston-Salem will be measuring-stick moments for Trevor Booker and the rest of the young men who take to the hardwood in America's most celebrated college basketball conference.

At the present moment, the failures of many other bubble teams have put Clemson in the 65-team NCAA field, but three road losses in the next two weeks would put that status in jeopardy and - at the very least - give Purnell and the rest of his coaching staff a whiff of bubble-based uncertainty. The verdict, for now, is this: If Clemson gets to 9-7 in the ACC, based on a split of the next four games (which would mean at least one road win), the Tigers will be an NCAA Tournament lock. If they lose three out of four and go 8-8, they'll have to win at least one game in the ACC Tournament to feel good about their chances on Selection Sunday.

Yes, Clemson crushed a Virginia team that was playing its fourth game in the past seven days and had absolutely no energy in the tank. Now, the real journey to respect begins in the final week of February.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer