CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. -- Tuesday night's Atlantic Coast Conference tilt between Virginia and Clemson, boasted a matchup between two teams that seemed to be going in different directions.

The Cavaliers had lost three of their previous four games while the Tigers had reeled off five straight conference wins, including three straight over ranked opponents Louisville, Duke and Miami.

A constant for Virginia however has been the friendly confines of John Paul Jones Arena.

That trend continued as No. 13 Virginia slipped past a red-hot Clemson squad 69-62 in front of 14,398 fans.

Virginia (14-4, 3-3), who has dropped all three ACC road games, improved to 9-0 at home and 3-0 in conference at home this season.

"We've been in games on the road, the ones we've dropped, that have been possession games and really could have gone either way," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. "I'll be honest with you, our games at home have possession games, too. That's just the way it is. The depth of the league, the talent and the improvement, has everything to do with that."

The Cavaliers led by as many as 13 in the second half but the Tigers never backed down as they cut the Virginia lead to three, several times late in the game.

"I'm pleased with the way our guys fought back and dealt with some adversity," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "It got really loud in here. You could tell Virginia was locked in. They had some guys really step up. [Isaiah] Wilkins and [Devon] Hall especially made some good shots for them.

"Certainly Malcolm Brogdon was very good. We just couldn't make enough plays to win the game," he added.

Clemson pulled to within three points at 65-62 with 18 seconds to play, but followed the make with a defensive lapse that allowed Virginia forward Isaiah Wilkins to slam down a breakaway dunk to ultimately seal the victory for the Cavaliers.

"They got closer and I don't feel like we ever took control of that game," Bennett said. "It's a fine line. It comes down to a few key stops, we have to get those and the fact that we got a few of those tonight was important for us."

Virginia recovered from a poor shooting effort in a loss to Florida State Sunday night, as it shot 54 percent from the field for the game. Guard Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers with 20 points and four assists while three other Virginia players scored in double figures.

"I was forcing some shots against Florida State and I just had to respond well to that tonight," Brogdon said. "I had to do that for my teammates."

Bennett was pleased with the balanced scoring he got from his team.

"The balance was important," Bennett said. "We got closer to being back to playing how we need to play and I was certainly pleased with the contributions from the other guys."

Virginia got 11 points from guard Devon Hall while Wilkins added 10 points on four of seven shooting.

The Cavaliers attempted just seven 3-pointers on the night, knocking down four of them.

"We gave ourselves a chance. That's what you're trying to do ... put yourself in a position in the last three or four minutes to have a chance," Brownell said. "We didn't make enough 3s. I know we made eight, but we needed to probably make a little bit higher percentage."

Clemson (12-7, 5-2) turned the ball over just seven times and shot 45 percent for the game but made just eight of their 24 3-point attempts. Forward Jaron Blossomgame led all scorers with 23 points. Center Landry Nnoko was the only other Tiger to score in double figures as he finished the night with 15 points.

The Cavaliers outrebounded the Tigers 32-21 and got 18 points from their bench.

After getting off to a slow start, Virginia shot 52 percent for the first 20 minutes and led Clemson 31-28 at the halftime break.

Clemson used a 9-0 run to take a 21-18 lead with 7:19 to play before the Cavaliers ended the first half on a 13-7 run.

The Tigers shot 45.8 percent in the half and were led by Blossomgame's 13 points.

Brogdon, who scored nine first-half points on four-for-six shooting, led Virginia. Forward Anthony Gill added seven points for the Cavaliers.

Clemson attempted 10 first-half 3-pointers and made four while Virginia knocked down two of their three attempts from beyond the arc.

NOTES: Clemson was looking to win six straight games for the first time since the 2010-11 season and has knocked off three straight ranked opponents. ... Virginia had won the last four meetings. ... The Cavaliers shot 39.3 percent in a loss Sunday night to Florida State, their second-lowest of the season. ... Clemson is the first ACC to reel off three straight victories over ranked opponents since 2002-03. ... Virginia guard London Perrantes missed four free throws against Clemson after missing just five total on the season. ... Virginia will host Syracuse on Saturday while Clemson will host Pittsburgh next Wednesday.