CLEMSON — Seven days ago, Brad Brownell faced a major signpost in Clemson's season.

The Tigers' second-year head coach knew his team was fighting hard. Results just hadn't followed.

Clemson had lost three consecutive games by a total of eight points, and fallen below .500 for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Keep your head up, Brownell told them. Keep pushing.

"Human nature's going to tell you to give in, let the season get away from you," Brownell said. "You've gotta just fight."

Fight they did. And the season might be turning around as a result.

Tuesday night, the Tigers took the fight to No. 22 Virginia, pulling away after halftime and wearing down the depleted Cavaliers 60-48 before an announced Littlejohn Coliseum crowd of 10,000.

Clemson improved to 13-12, 5-6 in the ACC, avenging a 65-61 loss to the Cavaliers (19-6, 6-5) two weeks ago at Charlottesville. The Tigers will ride a two-game win streak into Saturday's visit to North Carolina; they've never won in Chapel Hill.

This marked Clemson's second-best win of the season; the Cavs entered No. 34 in the RPI. Only Florida State (No. 27) is a higher-profile victim.

"We know we're a good team. It's a matter of going out and doing it," senior guard Andre Young said. "That's something the coaches kept emphasizing. They said they're not giving up on us; it's up to us to not to give up on ourselves."

Although Virginia shot 50 percent from the field, make no mistake: the Tigers won with defense. They forced 18 Cavalier turnovers (with 14 steals) and scored 19 points off turnovers to UVA's six.

"That's a tell-tale number," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "In a game with this few possessions, that's 18 times we don't get a chance to get a shot."

Clemson also held Cavs senior forward Mike Scott, an ACC Player of the Year candidate, to 13 points on 11 shots. He had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the teams' first meeting, also on 11 shots.

UVA sophomore guard Joe Harris, who burned Clemson for 19 points on five 3-pointers in the teams' first meeting, had two points, missing all four 3-pointers he took. He was hampered by a broken left hand suffered Saturday at North Carolina.

Bennett noted that the addition of junior forward Milton Jennings (who missed the first game on academic suspension) helped the Tigers better guard Scott.

"They were mindful of our perimeter shooting," he said. "I thought that changed with the addition of Jennings. I thought they were more attentive to him."

Clemson sealed the game by clamping down defensively. With 8:03 left, the Tigers led 44-41. By the time Virginia scored again — on a Johntel Evans layup — 2:26 remained, and Clemson's lead had grown to 11 points, 52-41.

In that stretch, Clemson forced three UVA turnovers as the Cavs missed three shots.

Smith's coast-to-coast drive following a post strip of Joe Harris gave the Tigers a 46-41 lead with 6:57 to play.

Defense and interior play made the difference. Booker took a Hall miss and stuck it back for a seven-point lead. When Hall went coast-to-coast following a Booker swat of Evans, Clemson's lead was nine, and the game was all but over.

"Coach got on us a little bit (at halftime)," Young said. "We weren't playing with enough energy in the first half. We basically responded in the second half, came out with a lot more energy, got some steals and deflections, and really tried to play off that."

Booker was a difference-maker. He was scoreless in the first half, but scored 10 points after halftime, many in the paint on stickbacks and physical moves.

"They took advantage of us getting worn down," Bennett said. "(Booker) was physical and ducked in hard. Physically, it really showed. He was a man out there."

In other words, Clemson executed Brownell's plan.

"Before we left the locker room, (Brownell) told them, 'Give me the ball inside and see what happens,'" Booker said. "They gave it to me, and good things happened."

Booker wore Virginia down, and his teammates followed his lead.

"They don't play as many guys as some people," Brownell said. "Obviously Harris' hand was bothering him a little bit, so we felt like this was a game where we could wear them down a little bit. I thought that on both ends of the court, we needed to push them."

Young and fellow senior guard Tanner Smith finished with 13 points each, while freshman guard Devin Coleman continued his emergence with nine points.

Clemson won the game inside, outscoring Virginia 32-22 in the paint, but also pushed the ball when necessary, outscoring the Cavs 10-0 on fast-break points.

Tuesday, the Tigers played with effort, intensity and hustle.

It was another sign they haven't given up on this season quite yet.

"Just keep our mindset as a group," Booker said. "We lost a couple games, and couldn't let it get us down. As soon as we got down, things couldn't get any better. Just keep a positive mindset, that's about it."