South Carolina will look to bounce back after a tough 74-70 loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Although the Gamecocks are on a conference hot streak, they still seem to struggle outside the SEC. This game was a weird one, but it always seemed like South Carolina could win it. The Gamecocks did put themselves in a hole a couple times, but they came back and took the lead with five minutes left in the game. South Carolina just couldn’t finish due to a late push by the Cowboys.

If you look at the numbers, it was pretty even. South Carolina shot 38.8 percent while the Cowboys shot 40.4 percent. South Carolina barely had a better three-point shooting percentage, and they even outrebounded the Cowboys by eight.

The one statistic that stands out is the fact that South Carolina finished with 22 fouls compared to Oklahoma State’s 13 fouls. This seems a little odd, especially since South Carolina didn’t get to shoot a single free throw in the first half. South Carolina did hit all of their free throws, but they only shot nine the whole game. The Cowboys had 29 free throws and made 79.3 percent of their shots.

The numbers would show that this game was more even if not leaned more towards South Carolina. However, the fouls did make a difference. The outcome of the game won’t change, but the free throws could’ve been the deciding factor on Saturday.

Despite the rough loss, South Carolina will play the number one team in the country, Tennessee, at home tonight. If the Gamecocks upset the Volunteers, expect the NCAA Tournament conversation to heat up for Carolina.