Virginia Tech stays alive in ACC Tournament on buzzer-beating game-winner
from Jordan Wolf, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Virginia Tech isn’t ready to set up for the Selection Sunday watch party just yet.
The Hokies kept their season alive and boosted their NCAA Tournament resume in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, beating Clemson 76-75 in overtime on a buzzer-beating three to advance to the quarterfinals.
The game was firmly in Virginia Tech’s control early on, as the Hokies led 43-32 at halftime. The Tigers came out swinging in the second half, though, as they also weren’t ready for their season to potentially come to an end. They battled back to take the lead with 36 seconds left on a layup by Hunter Tyson.
After a Clemson timeout, Virginia Tech came out ready to respond. With 20 seconds left, Storm Murphy cashed in a three to put the Hokies back up 66-64 as the Tigers called another timeout. They drained a bit of clock once play resumed, then found PJ Hall for an equalizing jumper. Murphy’s shot at the horn was no good, sending the game to overtime.
Both teams came out cold to start the extra period, as nobody scored until the 2:57 mark, but things heated up down the stretch. Hall hit two free throws with just over a minute left, but Al-Amir Dawes could only knock down one at the line with 30 to play as Clemson carried a two-point lead.
Justyn Mutts went to the line with eight seconds left for Virginia Tech with a chance to tie the game, but he missed the first shot. He connected on the second, making it a one-point deficit. Virginia Tech fouled, but Hall could also only make one from the charity stripe.
With Clemson leading by two and after a Tigers timeout, the Hokies inbounded to Darius Maddox. He slowly but surely worked his way up the court, and with just one man on him, stopped and pulled up for the game-winning triple. Swish.
Keve Aluma led Virginia Tech with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Murphy finished with 15 points and four assists, Mutts added nine points and 10 boards and Maddox logged eight points.
Hall led Clemson with 16 points, while Tyson had 12 points and seven rebounds. Chase Hunter chipped in 13 points and David Collins logged 12.
The Hokies are firmly on the bubble of receiving an at-large bid to the tournament, so every win significantly boosts their resume for if they don’t win the conference tournament and receive an automatic bid. They finished seventh in the ACC at 11-9 and are now 20-12 overall on the year.
Virginia Tech will face No. 2 seed Notre Dame on Thursday in the quarterfinals.