On Wednesday night, the Sooners and Longhorns squared off in a battle of winless SEC teams. Unfortunately for Porter Moser and Oklahoma, it was Texas that secured its first conference win, pulling out a 77-73 victory despite a furious second-half rally from the Sooners.

Oklahoma trailed 43-27 at halftime after a brutal first half, shooting just 11-29 (37.9%) from the field and 1-8 (12.5%) from three while turning the ball over eight times. In total, they finished with 18 turnovers—mistakes that ultimately outweighed their second-half resilience, which included a 20-3 run that nearly flipped the game.

Now, the Sooners turn their attention to another winless SEC opponent, South Carolina (10-7, 0-4), on Saturday. The Gamecocks are coming off a 66-63 loss to Vanderbilt, a game that followed a near-upset of No. 2 Auburn by the same score.

Here’s a breakdown of what Lamont Paris’ squad brings to the table and what Oklahoma must do to secure its first conference win on Saturday afternoon (3:00 p.m. CT, ESPNU) at the Lloyd Noble Center.

For South Carolina, everything runs through talented forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.6 points and 9.1 boards per game. He also contributes 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks while shooting 59.4% from the field, 26.7% from three, and 68.2% from the free-throw line.

In the Gamecocks’ near-upset of Auburn, Murray-Boyles was the driving force, putting up 25 points and seven rebounds. Their second-leading scorer, Jamarii Thomas, averages 12.3 points and 3.3 assists per game, but he has missed the last two contests.

In Thomas’ absence, Morris Ugusuk has stepped up. He led the team with 20 points in their most recent game against Vanderbilt, shooting 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from deep. It was a breakout performance for Ugusuk, who averages just 6.6 points per game on the season.

Alongside Murray-Boyles in the frontcourt is Nick Pringle, another capable scorer. Pringle averages 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds, giving South Carolina a strong interior presence.

South Carolina plays at a methodical pace, ranking 295th nationally in average possession length at 18.6 seconds. They also excel in a key “coaching stat”—free throws attempted per field goal attempt—ranking 13th in the country at 45.1%.

So, how does South Carolina stack up statistically across various categories? Let’s take a closer look:

The biggest difference between the first half and the second half on Wednesday night? Toughness and effort. Dayton Forsythe, Glenn Taylor, and Mohamed Wague came off the bench and provided exactly that, fueling Oklahoma’s massive 20-3 run.

“They just played really hard,” Moser said. “It wasn’t that they had crazy numbers, but it was diving on the floor, it was not accepting a catch, it was blowing up a handoff, it was just intangible toughness plays.”

That level of intensity has to carry over into Saturday—because there’s no more margin for error. At 0-4 in conference play, Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament hopes are hanging by a thread, and if they can’t take care of business against a struggling South Carolina team, that thread snaps. The second half against Texas showed signs of life, but if this team is going to turn its season around, it has to start now. This is a must-win.

In each of Oklahoma’s last two games, they’ve turned the ball over 18 times. For a team that hasn’t struggled much with turnovers this season, that’s a concerning trend. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing—you’re not winning an SEC game with 18 turnovers. The margin for error just isn’t that big.

Two Sooners had six turnovers on Wednesday night, one of them being Jeremiah Fears. But with how much he has the ball in his hands, that’s something Moser is willing to live with. “The ball is in his hands so much, so you’re going to have some turnovers, let’s just be honest. Would you like it at four? Yeah. But he’s got it in his hands so much, and he’s so aggressive. There’s going to be some turnovers.”

The bigger issue? Duke Miles also had six turnovers, many of them just careless mistakes—dribbling off his foot, bad passes, unforced errors. Fears is going to have some turnovers, that’s part of the deal. But the guys around him have to take care of the ball. They can’t afford the kind of sloppy giveaways that killed them Wednesday night.

Oklahoma ranks 53rd in three-point percentage at 36.6%, but their recent shooting struggles have been glaring. Against Texas, they went just 5-16 (31.2%) from deep, including a brutal 1-8 (12.5%) in the first half.

This issue wasn’t exclusive to that game. Against Georgia, the Sooners shot 7-27 (25.9%) from three, and if you take away Brycen Goodine’s scorching nine-three performance against Texas A&M, Oklahoma has shot just 22-75 (29.3%) from beyond the arc in SEC play.

Even Goodine, who had that breakout night, has cooled off significantly, going just 1-10 from deep in the last two games. If the Sooners are going to rediscover their perimeter shooting, it likely starts with him. They could also benefit from creating better looks for him—and perhaps Luke Northweather, who was a surprising DNP against Texas.

Oklahoma might be able to get by South Carolina without a strong shooting night, but this could be the last time all season where that’s the case. They have to get back on track from deep.

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