Clemson knocks off No. 7 Virginia

Posted 6:50AM on Wednesday 9th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson seems to have saved its season with a team meeting. Maybe it's a tactic No. 7 Virginia ought to try it. ``We talked about everything,'' said Edward Scott, who scored 17 points in the Tigers' 68-52 upset win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. ``We couldn't let things continue this way.'' Just last week, Clemson fell to Yale 68-65 at home. Last month was a loss at Littlejohn Coliseum to Winthrop, 66-61. How could anyone expect the Tigers (11-5, 2-1) to compete in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference? So far, it's been timely shooting and defense. The formula worked this past Saturday at Georgia Tech (83-76), Clemson's first league road win in 10 tries, and then against Virginia. Jamar McKnight scored a career-high 25 points as he and Scott led a second-half 23-7 run that left Virginia (9-2, 0-2) with its second-straight defeat following its 9-0 start. ``I think basically too many guys were buying into us thinking we're better than we are,'' said Roger Mason, the ACC's second-leading scorer who topped Virginia with 19 points and 12 rebounds. ``We've got to work harder. That's all it is.'' Scott said the Tigers talked several times about salvaging the year after blowing a lead to Yale in the final minute. Players couldn't be tentative, they had to be aggressive and polished, even after bad shots or silly plays. Scott went 0-for-9 and missed both 3-pointers against Yale. He's gone 5-of-10 from behind the arc the past two games. ``We tried to solve some problems and get everybody to get focused and just hang to the game plan,'' Scott said. Mason talked with his teammates after this loss, likely to end the Cavaliers stretch in the top 10 after rising to No. 4 with its perfect start. ``It's bad right now and we feel terrible,'' Mason said. ``But there's a long way ahead. I just told everybody they have to look in the mirror. Changes.'' Without Mason, Virginia's side of the stat sheet would've looked horrendous. The Cavaliers were 22-of-61 36 percent one of their poorest outings of the season. Travis Watson, the team's high scorer the past three games, was held to six points. Chris Williams, averaging nearly 16 points a game, missed all seven shots and did not score. The Cavaliers were 2-of-24 on 3-pointers and held to their lowest point total of the year, more than 30 points below their 84.8 point average coming in. ``Maybe we think we're a little bit better than we are,'' Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. McKnight said the meetings re-energized the team and got them past their early-season disappointments. ``We took those teams lightly,'' McKnight said of Winthrop and Yale. ``We knew if we could play together we could do better things.'' Here, Mason's jumper cut Clemson's lead to 35-34 with 15:24 to go. Then Scott hit a 3-pointer and McKnight a jam. McKnight had a lay-in and 3-pointer and Scott followed with a 3-pointer from about 23-feet to make it 50-40. By the time McKnight hit his third 3-pointer of the game with 6:53 to go, the Tigers were up 58-41 and on the way to their biggest victory of the season. Typically, the Clemson fans chanted ``Overrated! Overrated!'' as the Tigers controlled things down the stretch. When it was over, Clemson fans rushed the court as they did last February when the Tigers upset then-No. 1 North Carolina 75-65. Tomas Nagys dumped a water bottle on coach Larry Shyatt's head to celebrate the Tigers' win. ``We have separated ourselves the last two games by making shots,'' Shyatt said. The Tigers followed a 10-of-34 opening half by going 16-of-30 after the break. Mason hopes Virginia can recover the way Clemson has so far. The junior wants his team to work harder at practice and take opponents more seriously than they have the past week. ``When you don't play defense and don't hit shots and you go on the road in the ACC, you lose,'' Mason said.

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