USATSI
Virginia Tech kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with an overtime buzzer-beater to take down Clemson 76-75 in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday. Darius Maddox drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired after dribbling the length of the floor in six seconds. The sophomore guard entered as a 53.1{2236154dad3e2e5e52232f44259786ad55fa1ad43d7c7f04baaefdced4afc2cb} 3-point shooter and put his outside stroke on display while rising above Clemson’s Al-Amir Dawes for the heroic shot.
The No. 7 seed Hokies need a strong week to have any hope for an at-large bid to the Big Dance when the field of 68 is announced in a few days on CBS. Losing to the No. 10 seed Tigers likely would have been a fatal blow for their chances. Now, they will advance to play No. 2 seed Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Hokies won the only meeting between the teams earlier this season.
Virginia Tech led by as much as 14 early in the second half before the Tigers surged a rally to force overtime. Clemson forward PJ missed one free throw but hit the second before Maddox’s game-winner. Virginia Tech coach Mike Young called timeout to set up the final play after Hall’s second make.
Maddox, who had not taken a shot since the 8:25 mark of the second half, got the nod and took advantage. For the game, Keve Aluma led Virginia Tech in scoring with 19 points, while Storm Murphy added 15.
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