NCAA tournament: How and what to watch for in USC-Virginia second-round matchup
Who: No. 2 seed South Carolina (27-6, 12-4 SEC) vs. No. 10 seed Virginia (19-13, 10-6 ACC)
When: 9 p.m., Sunday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: ESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia, S.C., Gamecock Radio Network nationally
Tickets: $23 for general admission (upper level), $28 for public baseline reserved
What's At Stake: A Sweet 16 spot in the Albany regional semifinal on Mar. 24, against an opponent to be determined Monday
Last Meeting: The Gamecocks and the Cavaliers have not played since 2007, despite, or perhaps because, Dawn Staley is a UVA alumna. In that 2007 contest, USC won 66-64.
South Carolina Starters: F A'ja Wilson, F Alexis Jennings, G Doniyah Cliney, G Bianca Jackson, G Tyasha Harris
Virginia Starters: C Felicia Aiyeotan, F Lauren Moses, G Jocelyn Willoughby, G Dominique Toussaint, G Aliyah Huland El
Key Stats: Virginia's victory over California in the first round was the Cavaliers' first NCAA tournament win since 2009 and first under head coach Joanne Boyle.
Virginia sophomore center Felicia Aiyeotan, who stands 6-foot-9, will be the tallest player South Carolina has faced this season, and she has a 7-foot-3 wingspan. She is averaging 7.6 points and 7 rebounds per game.
The Cavs and Gamecocks shoot an identical 34.5 percent on 3-pointers, but UVA averages more than four more attempts per game. On 2-pointers, however, USC is shooting 50.9 percent, while Virginia is at 43.3 percent.
Virginia ranks next to last in the ACC in turnovers forced per game at just a little under 15, but South Carolina has turned the ball over 100 times over the last five contests.
South Carolina freshman Bianca Jackson has now played more minutes than all but two rookies in program history.
Quotable: "No. It doesn't. It's the NCAA Tournament. It's another game. Another opportunity to advance to the next level to the second weekend in the tournament. Obviously, it's my alma mater. Nothing will be better than to get a win and advance," Dawn Staley said about facing her college team for the first time as a coach at South Carolina.
This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 10:46 AM with the headline "NCAA tournament: How and what to watch for in USC-Virginia second-round matchup."