First half

•  Key play: Missouri led 22-20 at one point, but a steal and a basket by South Carolina kick-started a 15-5 run that ended the half.

•  Key stat: Missouri shot a miserable six for 30 (20 percent) in the first half.

Second half

•  Key play: A wide-open three-pointer by sophomore guard Jabari Brown tied the score at 43-43 and fired up the home crowd, which had seen the Tigers trailing by as many as 13 points just minutes earlier.

•  Key stat: Missouri went 28 for 36 from the free-throw line and attempted 19 more free throws than South Carolina.

Bowers, Bell may be back

Missouri coach Frank Haith said senior guard Keion Bell (ankle sprain) and senior forward Laurence Bowers (knee sprain) might be available for Saturday’s 4 p.m. home game against Vanderbilt.

“I think we’ll have a chance with both,” Haith said. “Keion, I’m feeling better about him than Laurence. But Laurence has been working hard, he’s been running, and we’ll see how it goes. We’ll have (Wednesday) completely off and get back at it on Thursday.”

• South Carolina coach Frank Martin was incredibly complementary of Mizzou Arena, and noted that the fans made a difference in the outcome of the game.

“I’ve been a lot of (basketball arenas),” Martin said. “It’s one of the great, great buildings for college basketball.”

Haith also showed the fans some love.

“You could see our guys feed off the energy of the crowd on the defensive end in particular,” Haith said. “That’s when they were the loudest, and we needed that.”