S. Carolina looks to knock off No. 9 Virginia
South Carolina (7-4) vs. No. 9 Virginia (9-1)
John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Virginia; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 9 Virginia looks to give South Carolina its fifth straight loss against ranked opponents. South Carolina's last win vs a ranked opponent came against the then-No. 16 Auburn Tigers 80-77 on Jan. 22. Virginia is coming off a 56-44 home win against Stony Brook on Wednesday.
SENIOR STUDS: Virginia's Mamadi Diakite, Jay Huff and Braxton Key have combined to score 54 percent of all Cavaliers points this season, though that trio's output has slipped to 44 percent over the last five games.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: Kihei Clark has either made or assisted on 43 percent of all Virginia field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has accounted for seven field goals and 16 assists in those games.
STREAK STATS: Virginia has won its last six home games, scoring an average of 57.3 points while giving up 41.3.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Gamecocks have recently gotten baskets via assists more often than the Cavs. Virginia has an assist on 28 of 53 field goals (52.8 percent) across its previous three contests while South Carolina has assists on 47 of 76 field goals (61.8 percent) during its past three games.
STIFLING DEFENSE: Virginia has held opposing teams to 44.2 points per game this year, the lowest figure among all Division I teams.
