The 18th-ranked Clemson Tigers fell in a 76-66 upset loss to Virginia Tech Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
It was only the Tigers’ (20-5 overall) second loss in ACC play this season. Both losses have come at home and in midweek play as Clemson previously fell to NC State, 80-76, in overtime back on Jan. 20.
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After posting back-to-back wins at Stanford and California on the West Coast, the Tigers simply looked slow and flat against an unranked Hokies (17-8, 6-6) team that had lost three of four games entering the night. By contrast, Clemson had won 13 of its past 14 contests prior to Wednesday, and 27 of 30 in ACC regular-season play.
Clemson trailed 40-33 at halftime after Jailen Bedford hit a 3-pointer just as the first half expired. The Tigers shot 54 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes but had 28 attempts, including a two-of-5 mark from 3-point land.
Nick Davidson (12 points) and Ace Buckner (10) had all but 11 of the Tigers’ first-half points. Virginia Tech made 59 percent of its shots in the first half on 16-of-27 from the field. Bedford led the Hokies with 16 in the opening stanza.
Virginia Tech would lead by as many as 12 in the second half after getting an 8-0 run with 14:26 to play. Bedford led all scorers with 23 points, and Carter Welling paced the Tigers with 19 points.
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Davidson and Buckner finished with 16 points apiece for Clemson, which travels to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday to face the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1).
Clemson and Duke will be battling for a first-place tie in the ACC standings. Coach Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils lead the Tigers and Virginia Cavaliers by one game in the conference race.
Duke bounced back from a 71-68 loss at rival UNC over the weekend to take down Pittsburgh, 70-54, on Wednesday. Coupled with Clemson’s 77-55 win at California last Saturday, the Tigers and Blue Devils entering the week tied atop the ACC.
Brownell was asked about resetting his team and getting ready to face Duke after a disappointing home loss against Virginia Tech, and what he would tell his players. Brownell’s message:
“We’ve played a lot of good basketball here for a long time.(Wednesday) was a time when we didn’t. We’ve got to learn from it, just like we do on wins, and grow from it and be ready to go. It’s obviously a tall task and a very quick turnaround for us. We won’t do anything physically (Thursday). It’ll be mostly walk-through.
“But we’ve got to shake it off and get our attitude back and be ready to compete. We just have to compete at a very high level. Our margins aren’t as big as some teams and we’ve got to make sure that we’re all on point. I’m confident we’ll be able to bounce back and compete here in a couple of days.”
Getting his team ready for such a high-profile matchup like Duke, Brownell said the Tigers wouldn’t do anything differently when preparing to face the Blue Devils.
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“Obviously it’s our next game against a great opponent in a terrific environment,” Brownell said. “Guys will be excited to do it. But being excited and having energy is not going to win. You have to compete at a very high level and you have to be very focused and disciplined in your play. We obviously were not that tonight.”
Tipoff for Clemson-Duke is noon ET Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Clemson basketball schedule 2026
Here’s a look at the Tigers’ full 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule.
All start times Eastern.
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Nov. 3: vs. New Hampshire (W, 88-38)
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Nov. 7: vs. Gardner-Webb (W, 97-59)
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Nov. 11: vs. Morehead State (W, 83-56)
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Nov. 15: at Georgetown (L, 79-74)
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Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama (W, 81-61)
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Nov. 21: vs. West Virginia (W, 70-67)
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Nov. 23: vs. Georgia (W, 97-94, OT)
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Nov. 28: vs. Alabama A&M (W, 92-56)
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Dec. 9 vs. BYU (L, 67-64)
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Dec. 13: vs. Mercer (W, 70-63)
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Dec. 16: vs. South Carolina (W, 68-61)
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Dec. 21: vs. Cincinnati (W, 68-65)
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Dec. 31: at Syracuse (W, 64-61)
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Jan. 3: at Pittsburgh (W, 73-68)
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Jan. 7: vs. SMU (W, 74-70)
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Jan. 13: vs. Boston College (W, 74-50)
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Jan. 17: vs. Miami (W, 69-59)
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Jan. 20: vs. NC State (L, 80-76, OT)
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Jan. 24: at Georgia Tech (W, 77-63)
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Jan. 31: vs. Pittsburgh (W, 63-52)
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Feb. 4: at Stanford (W, 66-64)
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Feb. 7: at California (W, 77-55)
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Feb. 11: vs. Virginia Tech (L, 76-66)
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Feb. 14: at Duke, Noon, ESPN
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Feb. 18: at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
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Feb. 28: vs. Louisville, ESPN or ESPN2
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March 7: vs. Georgia Tech, Noon, ACC Network
Overall: 20-5.
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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson won’t do anything differently to prepare for Duke basketball
