CLEMSON, S.C. – Jailen Bedford scored 23 points, Ben Hammond had 17 of his 19 points in the second half and Virginia Tech knocked No. 20 Clemson out of a first-place Atlantic Coast Conference tie with No. 4 Duke, beating the Tigers 76-66 on Wednesday night.
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Bedford was the first-half spark with Hammond taking over after halftime as the Hokies (17-8, 6-6) snapped a two-game losing streak with their first win at Clemson since coach Mike Young’s first season in 2019-20.
The Tigers (20-5, 10-2) moved into tie for the top after the Blue Devils’ drama-filled loss to rival North Carolina on Saturday night. But Virginia Tech used an 11-5 run, fueled by Bradford’s eight points, to close the first half up 40-33.
Clemson got to 40-38 early on in the second half, but gradually fell behind by 12 points, 52-40, on Hammond’s second 3-pointer. The Tigers closed to 69-64 on Carter Welling’s three-point play with 2:36 remaining. Bedford followed with his fourth 3-pointer to thwart Clemson’s comeback hopes.
Bradford got things going for the Hokies with two 3-pointers, then had a three-point play, an inside basket and a 3-pointer as Virginia Tech took control.
Clemson, coming off nearly a week on the West Coast with back-to-back wins over Stanford and Cal, had won 27 of its last 30 ACC regular-season games. But the Tigers looked a step slow throughout and allowed the Hokies to shoot 52% for the game, including 11 of 21 from three-point range.
Welling had 19 points and six rebounds to lead Clemson. RJ Godfrey, the Tigers leading scorer at 11.9 points coming in, was held to six points.
Virginia Tech: Hosts Florida State on Saturday.
Clemson: At No. 4 Duke on Saturday.