Missouri at South Carolina

•  WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m. Thursday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.

•  TV/RADIO: ESPN2; KMBZ (980 AM, 98.1 FM)

•  ABOUT MISSOURI (19-8, 8-6 SEC): The Tigers are coming off a brutal 90-83 overtime loss to Kentucky in which they failed to win another close game on the road. … Junior point guard Phil Pressey had 27 points and 10 assists but also had a crucial turnover late. … Senior forward Alex Oriakhi was a force inside with 16 points and 15 rebounds. … Missouri has now lost four of its last five road games by single digits.

•  ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (13-14, 3-11 SEC): The Gamecocks have struggled in the SEC, losing nine of their last 11 conference games. … South Carolina is coming off a 62-54 road loss to Georgia but managed to snap a six-game losing streak with a home win over Mississippi the game before.

•  BOTTOM LINE: Forget South Carolina’s record, this will be a battle. Coach Frank Martin’s teams always seem to play Frank Haith’s teams tough — Martin beat Missouri twice last year at Kansas State and the Gamecocks led Missouri by eight at halftime before the Tigers rallied to win 71-65 on Jan. 22 at Mizzou Arena. Also, Missouri is 1-6 on the road in the SEC, so the Tigers better not overlook the Gamecocks.