South Carolina will try to bounce back from the loss to Auburn when it hosts Vanderbilt Saturday night.

1. No Big 12/SEC Challenge for you

Saturday is the seventh annual Big 12/SEC Challenge, but since there are four more SEC teams than there are Big 12 teams, that leaves four teams on the outside looking in. Those would be South Carolina and Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss and Georgia. To keep the schedules fair, these four teams did not play the opening weekend of league play. That ensured that these four teams didn’t get a bye in the middle of the season, providing a potential advantage.

2. Laik Maik

Maik Kotsar started conference play on a tear, going for 18 points and ten rebounds against Florida and then 17 and eight against Tennessee. He has just 12 points total in the three games since, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t contributing. Since Frank Martin has gone to a guard oriented offense, Kotsar has become more of a facilitator than a scorer.

The Kentucky game was an outlier because Kotsar barely played due to foul trouble, but he still made an impact with four rebounds in just 12 minutes, and he passed out for the go-ahead basket on a play specifically designed for him.

Then he had six points against both Texas A&M and Auburn, but he still put up a good stat line. Against Texas A&M, Kotsar had 10 rebounds plus career-highs of seven assists and three steals. He didn’t set any career-highs against Auburn, but still had eight rebounds and five assists, both team highs.

It’s just the latest turn in what has been a remarkably effective senior season for Kotsar. He is now leading the Gamecocks in blocks, steals, and rebounds, is third on the team in assists, and has the third most points (fourth in scoring average.

3. Free throws matter

Free throw shooting has been a recurring issue this season, but it has taken on another level after the last two games. In those two games, South Carolina is 10-17 (hey, at least they were 7-8 against Texas A&M!) from the foul line, while opponents are 46-62. They were just 3-9 against Auburn, and while Jermaine Couisnard did a good job of drawing fouls, he was just 1-5 from the line.

Asked about the free throw disparity after the Auburn loss, Martin brushed it off, saying, “Next question.”

Later he addressed the challenges that come from taking, and making, so few free throws.

“If we’re only going to take nine free throws, then we’ve got to make 14-15 threes to offset,” Martin said. “If you’re not going to attack the rim and be physical at the rim, you’ve got to make your jump shots. When you don’t, you’re not going to win.”

Martin is, understandably, in a tricky position. He can’t criticize the officials without incurring a fine or other disciplinary action. And there are, of course a few calls that have gone against South Carolina that probably could have gone the other way, (like AJ Lawson’s fifth foul against Texas A&M, which brought Martin to his knees and drew a technical foul), but that isn’t the problem.

Offensively, jump shots don’t draw fouls, and South Carolina is a jump-shooting team. It’s no coincidence that the only two SEC teams that have attempted fewer free throws than South Carolina are Tennessee and Missouri, two other teams who rely on jump shots.The Aggies, in particular, weren’t called for many fouls because, frankly, their defense was so poor they weren’t close enough to commit a foul. There is no Chris Silva who will attack the rim in the post and draw fouls, or Sindarius Thornwell who will attack off the dribble and draw fouls.

Defensively, the issue is clear: stop reaching. South Carolina has committed the most fouls in the SEC (398). There is a coaching adage that you defend with your feet, not your hand, and when you watch the Gamecocks, you see a lot of reaching. Some of it is inexperience. Freshman Wildens Leveque has a bad habit of reaching for blocks instead of keeping his arms up. Jaylin McCreary and Alanzo Frink are tied for second on the team with 43 fouls, and they are both slightly undersized post players who have been singled out for not knowing the defense. That doesn’t mean they are incapable of playing good defense, Leveque and McCreary in particular have been praised for being high energy defenders, but right now they foul too much.

“I always felt this could be a really good defensive team, but we’re fouling too much,” Martin said last Monday. “A lot of our fouls are playing behind in the post, reach-ins when they drive us, overzealous shot blockers. We’ve got to keep cleaning that up.”

And there is also some degree of circumstance involved. Texas A&M has been called for the fewest fouls in the SEC (255). Auburn has attempted the most free throws in the league (over a hundred more than South Carolina). So it’s possible things could even out against Vanderbilt, a team closer to the middle of the pack, simply due to matchups.

4. Shooting threes

As Martin said, three-point shooting is the other part of the equation. South Carolina has been shooting significantly better lately. In nonconference games, South Carolina shot just 28.6 percent. That’s not good for anyone, let alone a team that relies on threes. In SEC games, the percentage jumps up to 35.7 percent. That is boosted by the 16-30 performance against Texas A&M. South Carolina is shooting just 27.9 percent in the other four games, but if you throw out Texas A&M you should also throw out the 2-13 rock fight at Tennessee, and then we’re getting into a whole mess of hypotheticals.

The bottom line is, when the Gamecocks shoot well, they play well, and they have a chance to win.

5. Scouting the Commodores

Vanderbilt can score - or at least could score. Vanderbilt was averaging 79.2 points per game over the first 14 games of the season. But then Aaron Nesmith suffered a season-ending foot injury. Nesmith, a likely first-round draft pick, was leading Vanderbilt and the SEC in scoring at 23.0 points per game and shooting 52 percent from three. Since Nesmith’s injury, Vanderbilt is averaging just 53 points per game.

The Ws

Who: South Carolina (10-8, 2-3) vs Vanderbilt (8-10, 0-5)

When: Saturday, January 25, 8:00 pm

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network