Clemson 80, Virginia Military Institute 50: Jordan Roper matched his career-high with 19 points as the Tigers shook off the visiting Keydets.

Roper also had eight rebounds and Rod Hall scored 14 points for the Tigers (9-3), who had eight blocks. Landry Nnoko chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks and K.J. McDaniels added seven points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.

D.J. Covington notched a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds for VMI (6-6), which was just 3-of-28 from 3-point range. QJ Peterson added nine points and 11 rebounds and Jordan Weethee scored nine points.

An 0-of-8 start from beyond the arc and two early fouls on Covington didn't stop the Keydets from securing a 13-9 lead before Peterson nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to push it to 19-11. The Tigers rallied with a 12-2 run, which included a 9-0 spurt, to grab their first lead at 23-21 and held on for a 32-31 advantage at intermission.

The Keydets were able to hang around for the first nine minutes of the second half and trailed by four with 11-plus minutes remaining before the Tigers slowly pulled away. McDaniels came alive, notching his first field goal of the game to kick-start a 15-2 run over a seven-minute span for the Tigers, who shot 43.9 percent, including 4-of-20 from beyond the arc.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Keydets, who entered the game shooting 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, were 2-of-16 in the first half. ... McDaniels missed his only shot attempt while going scoreless in the first half. ... The Tigers were 18-of-23 from the foul line.