The Gamecocks just finished a brutal five-game stretch to start SEC play and are coming off a palette-cleansing 26-point win over Vanderbilt before starting a stretch of very winnable games.
That starts with a game at Arkansas Wednesday night (8:30 p.m., SEC Network), arguably the toughest of their next five games.
Arkansas is a fringe top 25 team and can present a few challenges as the Gamecocks try to get over .500 in the SEC for the first time this season.
The skinny: This is an interesting Arkansas team that started 11-1 in the non-conference against a relatively soft schedule but has somewhat regressed back to the mean in SEC play. Right now the Razorbacks are 3-3 in conference play but coming off arguably their best win of the season against KenPom No. 63 TCU.
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This is the first season under new head coach Eric Musselman but it's an experienced team he inherits. The Razorbacks average almost two years of experience per player and every starter is at least in his second year of the program.
Another interesting piece that could trip up South Carolina is the atmosphere and home-court advantage. The Razorbacks have lost just once at home and are 12-1 this season. Their only loss came to Kentucky, a seven-point loss.
KenPom prediction: The Gamecocks (11-8, 3-3 SEC) are given a 17 percent chance to win by KenPom with the site predicting a 76-66 Razorback win in Fayetteville.
What they do well: It's a team that's predicated on it's speed offensively (No. 66 nationally in adjusted tempo) and good defense. The offensive numbers are solid but they're one of the best defensive teams in the country, ranking in the top 20 in defensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage against, turnover rate against and three-point defense.
Those numbers have been solid but not to the level they were in non-conference play. They're middle of the pack in a lot of those categories now outside of turnover rate against.
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In SEC play they're sixth in both offensive and defensive efficiency but are still forcing turnovers at a high rate. They protect the ball well—first in the SEC in offensive turnover rate—and have the lowest steal percentage on offense as well.
They're defending the three well, holding teams to just 28.4 percent from deep and 47.2 from two. They also force a lot of turnovers, third in the SEC in steal rate averaging seven per game in league play.
What they don't do well: For as good as this team is team can be, this is not a big group. The tallest of the team's starters is center Adrio Bailey at 6-foot-6. Because of that, they're not a good an offensive rebounding team (No. 341 nationally) and don't do a great job limiting offensive boards on the other end of the court.
They Razorbacks also commit a lot of fouls with opponents averaging 25.7 free throws per game in conference play.
It's a team that relies heavily on forcing turnovers and stealing possessions away, literally, from its opponents. The Razorbacks aren't a great shooting team from deep, hitting just 30.7 percent of their threes in SEC play.
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Player to watch: Mason Jones, G
This is the team's go-to scoring option and he's a tough defensive matchup for anyone in the SEC.
The junior is averaging 18.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.2 turnovers per game from that point guard spot and is arguably the team's best player. He's shooting 50.9 percent from two and 33.6 percent from three.
He's averaging 15.7 points in SEC games with a slight dip in his shooting percentages, but he's still a matchup nightmare for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks have struggled at times to contain some of those guards and Jones could be a guy they struggle with.
