Tigers Fall Short At Virginia, 76-62

Feb. 15, 2000

By HANK KURZ Jr. AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – Donald Hand outplayed ACC scoring leader Will Solomon with help from defensive stoppers Adam Hall and Roger Mason on Tuesday night and Virginia got a much-needed 76-62 victory against Clemson.

Hand scored 21 points while Solomon, who scored 43 against the Cavaliers when Hall sat out a 98-91 Virginia victory on Jan. 15, had just 13 as Hall and Mason denied him the ball, overplayed him and contested his every shot.

The Cavaliers (17-8, 7-5 ACC) led 38-21 at halftime behind Hand’s 12 points and never let the Tigers (9-16, 3-9) closer than 16 points until late in the game.

Hand, who scored all 17 points in the second half of Virginia’s 88-82 victory against North Carolina State on Saturday, hit two 15-foot fadeaways in the first 2 1/2 minutes and added two 3-pointers three minutes apart late in the half.

With Solomon having a hard time getting the ball and missing 7-of-8 shots in when he got it – his only field goal came when Chris Williams was called for goaltending with 3:30 left – the Tigers shot just 31 percent in the first half.

Virginia didn’t let up out of the locker room, either, getting consecutive 3-pointers from Williams and Hand 32 seconds apart early and an 11-3 run capped by another three from Williams that made it 55-30 with 13:46 remaining.

Williams added 16 points, Mason 11 and Hall 10 for Virginia. The Cavaliers were 9-for-27 on 3-pointers, the Tigers just 2-for-12.

Solomon, who came in averaging 29.3 points over his last three games and 21.6 for the year, made only 4 of 13 shots, including 2 of 7 3-pointers.

Adam Allenspach led the Tigers with 15 points and 10 rebounds.