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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
COLUMBIA, S.C. – There is no ACC/SEC Challenge in men’s basketball, so most of Virginia’s players have little idea what to expect Wednesday night at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena.
Braxton Key is the exception. The 6-8, 225-pound junior transferred to UVA from Alabama after the 2017-18 school year. During his two seasons with the Crimson Tide, Key played South Carolina three times, once at Colonial Life Arena.
In that game, on Feb. 7, 2017, Alabama edged the 16th-ranked Gamecocks 90-86 in four overtimes.
“It was fun,” said Key, who totaled six points and six rebounds in the Tide’s victory. “The atmosphere was great. They had a good fan base supporting them.”
The fall semester is over at South Carolina, whose students have headed home, and so the atmosphere may not be as rowdy Wednesday night at the 18,000-seat arena. Still, the game figures to be fiercely contested. At 7 o’clock, fifth-ranked Virginia (9-0) meets the Gamecocks (4-5) in a game to be televised on the SEC Network.
SEC basketball, Key said, has a lot in common with the sport for which the conference is renowned: football.
“It’s very physical,” Key said. “On every team, a lot of the guys look like football players. You see ’em, and you’d think they belong on the football team. They’re just really physical, trying to out-rebound you, out-physical you.”
South Carolina’s starters include 6-11, 264-pound junior Maik Kotsar and 6-9, 234-pound senior Chris Silva. And then there’s 6-4, 240-pound junior Evan Hinson, who’s also a tight end on the Gamecocks’ football team, which will face UVA in the Dec. 29 Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.
Hinson, who started 17 games last season, made his 2018-19 basketball debut Dec. 8 against then-No. 5 Michigan.
Head coach Frank Martin’s Gamecocks, who advanced to the Final Four in 2016-17, have been inconsistent this season. In their 89-78 loss to unbeaten Michigan, however, the Gamecocks impressed. Silva contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Kotsar added 16 points.
“You saw what they could do,” head coach Tony Bennett said of the Gamecocks, who shot 51.6 percent from the floor against the Wolverines.
Key said: “After the game that they had against Michigan, I think they’re feeling pretty good.”
Transition defense and rebounding will be critical for UVA on Wednesday night, Key said. “In the SEC, everyone loves to run. There really isn’t a halfcourt team, other than Vanderbilt. For the most part everyone loves to run and get offensive rebounds and extra possessions.”
The Wahoos haven’t played since Dec. 9, when they defeated VCU 57-49 at John Paul Jones Arena. Against the Rams, freshman point guard Kihei Clark played with a cast that covered his left wrist and most of his left hand.
That didn’t shock the Cavaliers’ coaches. During the recruiting process, Bennett said, “you see when guys are tough and scrappy and just kind of refuse to yield, and we saw that in Kihei.”
Clark had surgery Dec. 10 to repair a fracture in his left wrist. He’s already proved that he has a high tolerance for pain and discomfort, and Clark would prefer not to miss any games, even if it means playing with a cast.
“He’ll get back as soon as the doctors let him,” Bennett said.
This is Bennett’s 10th season at UVA, where the December calendar includes a lengthy break for final exams. Under Bennett, the ‘Hoos are 9-0 in their first game after the break. Eight of those games were at JPJ, but Virginia won at Oregon in 2011-12.
“Being on the road, it’ll be a challenge against a physical team,” Bennett said of facing the Gamecocks.
Once a member of the ACC, South Carolina played UVA regularly for almost two decades. But the schools’ most recent meeting in men’s basketball came during the 2001-02 season, when South Carolina defeated Virginia in the NIT’s first round.
The Gamecocks will visit JPJ next December to wrap up this two-game series.
“We wanted to play a high-quality program,” Bennett said. “You’re going to have to play very well to be successful [against the Gamecocks]. They really pressure the ball. They make passes tough. They’re a physical, assertive team. Obviously with their Final Four a couple years ago, they’re high-quality. Those are the games that you want, and that was the design of scheduling this.”
UVA opened the season on Nov. 6, and its non-conference schedule is more spread out than in previous years. The Cavaliers, who open ACC play against Florida State on Jan. 5, are in the midst of a four-week stretch in which they’ll play only five games.
“For Kihei’s sake, that’s good timing, with his injury,” Bennett said. “The schedule is always changing, and you just make the most of it. Practice is so valuable, and rest is so valuable.”