By Will Vandervort.

Clemson had a lot of fun on Saturday. Actually, it was the most fun the team has had in three years.

Before their 75-54 victory over Virginia Tech, the last time the Tigers beat an ACC foe by 20-plus points came on February 11, 2012 when they routed Wake Forest by 20 points in Winston-Salem. Saturday’s game against the Hokies was over when they opened the second half by making their first five three-point attempts in the first four minutes.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Clemson guard Jordan Roper, who scored a game-high 21 points on eight of 11 shooting. “Just to see shots go in keeps guys energized and hyped throughout the game.”

No one was as energized or as hyped as Roper. The junior opened the game by scoring 11 of the Tigers’ first 13 points. Roper also led every player on the floor in assists (5) and steals (2).

Clemson went up 10-0 before Virginia Tech scored its first basket and it was 16-2 before the Hokies made their second shot of the day.

By the way, that all came in the first four minutes of the game and Roper was three-for-three from behind the arc. He finished the afternoon five of six from downtown.

Clemson (15-10, 7-6 ACC) shot 47.4 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers overall, the most this year and the most in the Brad Brownell era since the Tigers made 12 against UTEP on November 23, 2012. It also marked the first time they have made 11 or more threes against an ACC opponent since they dropped in 12 against North Carolina on March 12, 2011.

The field goal percentage was their best of the season in ACC play.

“I just thought they played with great confidence,” Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams said about the Tigers’ shooting. “I’m not trying to coach this team, but I thought their execution was at a very high rate. I don’t think they took a lot of empty dribbles. I thought there was a purpose in their cuts, purpose in their screens.

“I don’t know if (Brad Brownell) would say they took many bad shots.”

The Tigers did miss their last nine three-point attempts after starting the game 11 of 20 from behind the stripe. However, by that time they already owned a 35-point lead.

“We have not had that. That was an interesting feeling,” Brownell said. “But that is part of it. There was still a lot of time left and give Buzz and his kids a lot of credit; he kept them competing. He won’t let those guys give in and they don’t. They keep playing and they played a lot better at the end and started making some shots.

“But it was good for us to have a game like this where you make shots and it’s good for your confidence and we hope it continues on Monday.”

In the second half, everyone got involved. Roper of course made his only two attempts from behind the line, but Jaron Blossomgame, who scored 14 points and had a game-high seven rebounds, scored the first five points to open the second half and then Donte Grantham and Rod Hall followed with three-pointers.

“It just shows what we are capable of,” Blossomgame said. “When everyone is making shots, I feel like we can play with anybody in the country. We made more than ten threes tonight so it is kind of hard to lose when you make more than ten threes in a game.”

Just because baskets were falling on the offensive end did not mean the Tigers were slack on the defensive side of the court. They were their normal self as the Hokies (10-15, 2-10 ACC) connected on just 36.7 percent of their shots, while the Hokies’ 54 points marked the eighth time in the last nine games an opponent failed to score at least 60 points.

Clemson has held five of their last six foes to less than 40 percent shooting as well.

“Making shots helped a lot on the defensive end and it translated a lot,” Roper said. “You could tell that by our energy and enthusiasm.”