Concerning trends returned for Clemson, and the Tigers fell to Virginia Tech 87-72 for the third-straight loss to open up the ACC season. Without Hunter Cattoor in the second half, the Hokies still got it done at home.

Playing in front of a strong crowd in Cassell Coliseum, Sean Pedulla’s 32 points steamrolled Clemson and multiple swings back into a single-digit game were stifled. He was effective as a shooter and sliced through Brad Brownell’s defense often, including the and-one that made it his career high.

Three-pointers were deadly on the road again, allowing11 on 57.9 percent shooting this time and 53 Virginia Tech points in the first half set the Tigers’ bar too high. Their only two leads came at 2-0 and 6-3 in the early minutes.

A 70-66 deficit looked like a comeback window until Tyler Nickel’s five-straight extended the lead to nine. He also added a career-high 24 points, which tells toe story of Clemson’s defensive nightmare.

Ian Schieffelin continued his excellence, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds on 70 percent shooting. Joseph Girard III and PJ Hall combined for 23 on 7-23 from the field. That’s a step up from Saturday, but not enough to win on the road.

The three-game losing streak is the opposite of expectations after the non-conference slate, and the Tigers have to stop the snowball before it falls out of ACC contention.

Clemson returns to Littlejohn Coliseum Jan. 13 to take on 10-4 Boston College, another tough test after the rough patch. Tipoff is at 3 p.m., televised on ACC Network.

Photo courtesy of Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports