No. 16 South Carolina travels to South Florida (Dec 17, 2016)

South Carolina has dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten and the No. 16 Gamecocks strive to bounce back when they visit South Florida on Saturday in a nonconference affair.

South Carolina (8-1) was playing well on both ends of the basketball court prior to Monday's 67-64 loss to Seton Hall at New York's Madison Square Garden.

And volatile Gamecocks coach Frank Martin didn't even try to sugarcoat his disappointment over a seven-point halftime advantage slipping away.

"We got manhandled in the second half," Martin said. "There is no other way to put it."

South Carolina will be without leading scorer Sindarius Thornwell (18.7 per game) for the third straight contest. The senior guard is serving a suspension for a violation of team rules and he isn't expected to be reinstated until early January.

To nobody's surprise, Martin isn't interested in fielding questions pertaining to whether or not Thornwell's absence led to the Gamecocks suffering their first defeat.

"That's his problem," Martin barked. "We don't have time to worry about a situation that he created himself."

South Florida (5-3) has won three of its past four games and will be looking to avenge last season's 81-63 loss to South Carolina.

The Bulls are 10-42 all-time against SEC schools, including dropping four of five to the Gamecocks.

South Florida received a boost by the recent return of sophomore guard Jahmal McMurray, who missed the team's first six games due to an unspecified violation of team rules. McMurray averaged 18.0 points in his first two games, including 20 in Monday's 79-73 overtime victory over Bethune-Cookman.

McMurray scored seven of the Bulls' 13 points in the overtime session.

Perhaps the most pleasing part of the contest was the fact junior forward Bo Zeigler matched his career high of 20 points. Zeigler, who averages 7.3 points, was 10-of-10 shooting in regulation before missing both of his overtime attempts.

"Not only Bo's production but also his energy, fight, and spirit that we needed," Bulls coach Orlando Antigua told reporters. "He is just coming back after struggling with a sickness and it was good to see that."

Junior guard Geno Thorpe is contributing 13.9 points per game despite making just 37.8 percent of his shots. Freshman forward Tulio Da Silva is averaging 11.5 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds while sophomore Troy Holston averages 10.7 points.

Holston sat out the Bethune-Cookman contest with a left knee injury.

Meanwhile, the suspension of Thornwell gave South Carolina sophomore guard PJ Dozier (13.6 average) a chance to step up and he has responded with three consecutive 20-point performances.

The first of those outings -- a career-best 21 points -- came with Thornwell on the floor. Martin and the staff then tweaked some of the offensive plays to make sure Dozier was receiving ample opportunity to shoot the ball.

"He's starting to spread his wings a little bit," Martin said. "So it's going to put more responsibility on his plate."

Dozier also has racked up 17 steals over the past six games to fuel a defense that allows just 56.8 points per game and limits opponents to 33.8-percent shooting from the field.

Senior guard Duane Notice averages 10.7 points but he had just four points on dreadful 1-of-10 shooting in the loss to Seton Hall.

"That might have been the worst game that he has played," Martin said.

Antigua is dealing with his own issues. The encounter against Bethune-Cookman was too close for comfort.

"In order for us to continue to progress, we have to play a full 40-minute game with intensity, focus and heart," Antigua said.