Chris Silva was the hero in the opener, had a double-double for an encore and dominated his position in South Carolina’s third SEC game. The all-league senior forward might have had an underwhelming non-conference season, but he entered Wednesday looking again like a Player of the Year candidate.
Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew knew it. Before his Commodores took on the Gamecocks, Drew said Silva was playing “as physical and as aggressive as anybody in the whole country” and he was concerned his team didn’t have the horses to match the 6-foot-9, 234-pounder’s energy.