Gamecocks over Auburn: By the Numbers

0 - shots taken from the field, shots taken from the free throw line, offensive rebounds grabbed, turnovers, blocks, and steals for Brian Steele in 17 minutes of action.  That means, for those 17 minutes, the other four players on the court had to carry the entire offensive burden.  That's how you end up with Duane Notice taking 16 shots.

0.913 - points per possession conceded by Carolina last night, their second-best defensive performance of the season (best: 0.788 against Texas A&M).

1 - very nice assist on a Brenton Williams three-pointer in the first half for Brian Steele.  He also had one defensive rebound.

1.207 - points per possession scored by Carolina last night, their second-best performance of the season (best: 1.212 against Texas A&M).

6 - number of losses since Carolina's last SEC Tournament win in 2008.  It was their last post-season win of any kind since that date, as they also lost to Davidson in the first round of the NIT in 2009.

9 - minutes played by Michael Carrera, his lowest total since a 5-minute outing against Tennessee on February 8.  In the intervening 8 games, he averaged 24.4 minutes per game.

15 - turnovers by the Gamecocks, with 5 by Sindarius Thornwell, for a turnover percentage of 24.6%.  Auburn only forces turnovers on average on 18.7% of opponents' possessions.  Arkansas creates turnovers on 23.5% (9th in the nation).  Another ball-handling performance like this one against a team like Arkansas, and the season likely ends today.

16 - points scored by Brenton Williams, all in the first half.

18 - the margin of victory.   Also, if you move Carolina's 3-point shooting percentage down to the national average of 33%, they would've gone 5-15 instead of 11-15 from 3, and scored 18 fewer points.  The hot shooting from 3-point land was the difference between the teams last night.

23 - points scored by Duane Notice, a career high for the freshman, though it took him 16 shots to do it.

27 - shooting percentage for the Gamecocks from 2-point range.  Had the 3s not been falling last night, Carolina and Auburn would've been in a real dogfight.

29 - shots from the field taken by Auburn's three guards - Chris Denson, K.T. Harrell, and Tahj Shamsid-Deen.

31 - points scored on those 29 shots (for a 1.07 point per shot ratio)

39 - minutes played by Brenton Williams.  That could spell trouble for Carolina in its match-up on Thursday afternoon against the high-tempo Arkansas Razorbacks, who are fifth in the nation in adjusted tempo and sport a roster with 11 players that average at least 8 minutes per game (Carolina has 8, with Desmond Ringer barely exceeding the threshold.

73 - percentage of 3-pointers made, the highest since 1989, when Carolina went 9-11 against The Citadel (82%) (minimum 10 attempts).