SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
The Gamecocks are coming to the end of a very tough stretch of basketball and saved arguably the toughest game for last.
South Carolina travels to Charlottesville for a matchup against defending national champion Virginia as the final part of a home-and-home series that started last year.
It's a big test for a Gamecock team still putting the pieces together having to go play one of the best defensive teams in the country.
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The skinny: Virginia (9-1) is highly thought of in the basketball community with most metrics and polls putting the Cavaliers inside the top 15. They're the No. 13 team in KenPom and the AP Poll has them as the ninth-best team in the country.
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It's odd because they're the slowest team in college basketball—last in adjusted tempo and average possession length—but their defense is so elite that they're still one of the best teams in the country.
The Cavs are coming off a national championship last season but lost four starters from that team and replaced them with younger players; point guard Kihei Clark started last year but is a sophomore, then the other two players in the backcourt—Casey Morsell and Kody Stattmann—are both underclassmen.
They're one of the youngest teams in college basketball, averaging just 1.51 years of experience but are one of the longer teams (average height is 6-foot-5) and know how to put the clamps down on a team.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (7-4) are given a 12 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 63-51 Gamecock loss in Charlottesville.
What they do well: So it's pretty easy to figure out what Virginia does well with the Cavaliers leading the country in points per game allowed (44.2), defensive efficiency (80.2) and opponent effective field goal percentage (38.7).
It's hard to score against them, which is how they win a lot of games. In 10 games this year only two teams have shot over 40 percent from the floor and teams are shooting 26.4 percent from three and 37.8 percent from two against them this season.
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They do almost everything well defensively: forcing turnovers, limiting offensive rebounds and blocking shots. They force teams to use a lot of the clock offensively and they play at at a snail's pace, which contributes to low-scoring games.
It's predicated on pack-line defense, which is designed as a version of man-to-man where off-ball defenders clog passing lanes and stay close to the paint while the on-ball defender pressures the handler.
What they don't do well: For as good as they've been defensively, offensively they've struggled some. The Cavs haven't scored more than 65 points in a game and are are averaging just 53.8 points per game, second-fewest in the country out of 353 teams.
Part of the reason is because they're playing slow, which limits possessions and in turn scoring chances, but the Cavs have a 44.3 effective field goal percentage, 310th-best nationally.
They have one of the nation's worst three-point shooting percentages at 25.4 percent and are shooting 48 percent from two. They're not a great offensive rebound team and turn the ball over a lot with a turnover rate at 20.2 percent.
If their defense isn't holding opponents to a low score, it's hard for Virginia to score with their opponents this season. The only time it's happened this season was against Purdue where the Cavs lost 69-40.
Player to watch: Mamadi Diakite, F
Diakite has been, by far, Virginia's best player in what is his senior season. The 6-foot-9, 224-pounder was a key piece of the Cavs' run last season and now is the team's go-to offensive option this year.
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He's the only Hoo averaging over 10 points per game (13.2) and his 6.5 rebounds per game are good for third-best on the team behind Braxton Key and Jay Huff.
He's used a lot when on the floor, ranking in the top 10 percent in both possessions used and percent of team's shots taken when on the floor. For a big man, he doesn't foul and he's an incredibly good offensive rebounder.
He doesn't shoot the ball great, but has a solid three-point stroke, hitting 45.5 percent of his 22 attempts this season.
Diakite plays a little at center but is primarily a four, so it'll be a big test if the Gamecocks opt to play the same smaller lineup they did against Clemson with Justin Minaya at the power forward spot.
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