No. 18 MBB Falls at No. 2 Virginia on Tuesday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Clemson University men’s basketball fell at No. 2 Virginia, 61-36, on Tuesday night in John Paul Jones Arena.

The Tigers (16-4, 5-3 ACC) were led by Gabe DeVoe’s 11 points, while freshman Aamir Simms scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in his first career start at Clemson.

After falling behind 7-0 in the early going to the Cavaliers (19-1, 8-0 ACC), the Tigers put together an 11-0 run to take the lead, eventually pushing its lead to seven points at 23-16. That deficit would be the largest for Virginia in ACC play this season.

Following a Simms 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the first half, the Cavaliers would engineer a back-breaking 36-6 run over the next 19:39 of the game.

Despite the loss, the Tigers remain sixth in the RPI and saw their strength of schedule jump from 13th to fifth.

The Tigers will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 28 when they travel to Georgia Tech for an evening tip time of 6 p.m. from McCamish Pavilion.

Notes: The start for true freshman Aamir Simms was the first by a Tiger freshman since Donte Grantham in 2014 … the nine points for Simms was a career-high, while his six rebounds tied his career-mark set in a win over Western Carolina (Nov. 10).