CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) -- Kihei Clark has spent the past few months playing more minutes per game than any Virginia men's basketball player in more than 20 years.

Clark has averaged 37.1 minutes in 30 games this season for UVA, the No. 2 in this year's ACC quarterfinals.  That per-game average leads the conference, and would rank second in a season in the UVA record book.  Only Curtis Staples, who averaged 39.1 as a senior in 1997-98, averaged more minutes per game in a UVA uniform since the stat was first tracked in 1972.

The Cavaliers will take the floor at the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday night, when they face Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.  If things unfold the way the Wahoos would like, they'd be playing three games in a three-night span in Greensboro.

That's a workload that Clark says he's ready for.

"I just try to go along, just go about it the same way. Just try to lock in," Clark said on Monday.  "I know I'll be a little tired, but the same mindset going into each game, really."

"I love playing basketball, so it's not really that big of a deal for me."

Clark's season-high in minutes as a freshman was 37.  He has surpassed that total in 18 of UVA's games this year.  Clark has played at least 40 minutes six times -- three times in games that ended in regulation, then more than 40 in three overtime games, including the full 45 against Syracuse and Notre Dame.

Tony Bennett says he's tried to lessen the burden on Clark as best he can in recent weeks.  He has pulled Clark out of games for short spells around media timeouts, and used Braxton Key more often as a secondary option at point guard.

"I believe he's like the Energizer Bunny. Doesn't mean he doesn't get fatigued, but he just goes and goes," Bennett said.  "But when we can find a few minutes here and there, and then being smart certainly in practice. We've tried to do that, to find ways for him and some of the guys to be rested, but also prepare well."