Virginia Tech scored a 86-67 victory over South Carolina in Sunday’s “Hoops 4 Hurricane Relief” exhibition game in Columbia.
The Hokies had five players score in double digits, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker leading the way with 18 points.
South Carolina was led by Hassani Gravett’s 15 points. Maine graduate transfer Wesley Myers finished with 12 points for the Gamecocks.
Frank Martin’s squad was held to 35 percent shooting from the floor.
Prior to the game, South Carolina players and coaches were presented with rings for winning the East Region in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
Lovell’s Analysis
This was another hurricane relief exhibition game that saw a lot of money raised for a terrific cause.
Of course, it also gave us another look at the Gamecocks before the start of regular season play on Friday.
The biggest takeaway was that Chris Silva only played eight minutes, which makes it hard to read much into the result.
He’ll be the driving force for this team this season, and it appears that Martin is content with keeping him fresh heading into the opener against Wofford.
Kory Holden was held out of the game altogether due to a sore knee, so that’s another rotation player that would’ve made a difference in the outcome.
Elsewhere, minutes varied for different players, and freshmen Felipe Haase and Justin Minaya made solid contributions and will certainly have opportunities to earn minutes this year.
The Hokies have Top 25 talent, and Buzz Williams clearly has his team playing well heading into the season.
South Carolina is still one of the most intriguing teams in the SEC, mainly due to not knowing how all the new pieces will fall into place.
The Wofford game will be a much better indicator of how dangerous the Gamecocks could be going forward.