FAYETTEVILLE - Vincent Hunter flung a towel at the Bud Walton Arena court and stormed toward the Arkansas locker room. Gary Ervin followed, as did Sonny Weems and Stefan Welsh, all drooping their heads and untucking their jerseys.

The overwhelming disappointment of Arkansas' 70-66 loss to South Carolina on Wednesday night so stunned these four Razorbacks, they bypassed postgame handshakes and retreated to immediately sulk.

"We just didn't come out on edge like South Carolina did," Weems said. "They snuck up on us."

For nearly three days, first-year coach John Pelphrey tried to warn his Hogs. He tried to impress upon them that the Gamecocks were thirsting for a victory, desperate actually, considering their two blowout losses to open Southeastern Conference play. But the Razorbacks performed as if they hadn't heard even one of Pelphrey's words.

They came out flat and trailed 13-9 after the first eight minutes. They recovered but allowed a 10-0 South Carolina spurt in the last four minutes of the first half. And they had no answer for Devan Downey, the Gamecocks' gritty 5-foot-9 point guard who drained big shot after big shot and finished with 28 points.

So much for that 3-0 SEC start. So much for building momentum heading into a two-game road trip at Georgia and LSU. So much for entering next week's national rankings.

"We didn't operate at a high level consistently," Pelphrey said. "And it's disappointing from the standpoint of what I thought we had at stake."

The most difficult part of Wednesday's loss for the Razorbacks (13-4, 2-1) was the self-inflicted nature of their mistakes. As in previous defeats to Providence, Oklahoma and Appalachian State, the Hogs got in their own way more often than not.

They committed 19 turnovers, the most since recording 20 against Texas-San Antonio on Dec. 12. They lost out on "scramble situations," as Pelphrey calls them, watching as the Gamecocks (9-8, 1-2) outfought them for loose balls. They again showed poor shot selection, settling for off-balance, low-percentage shots on too many possessions. And they failed to consistently utilize their height advantage against their undersized opponent.

Weems single-handedly kept Arkansas close in the second half. The 6-6 senior forward tallied 21 of his career-high 28 points after halftime. But the difference in intelligent, late-game play was too drastic to overcome.

"We were very smart down the stretch," South Carolina coach Dave Odom said. "We didn't turn the ball over. We got the ball in the right hands, and we made our free throws."

Arkansas simply wasn't as astute. That was evident early on, as Pelphrey nearly melted down several times. Not even 10 minutes into Wednesday's contest, Pelphrey ripped off his suit jacket and flung it behind the Arkansas bench. Later in the half, Pelphrey and Patrick Beverley shouted at each other, and Pelphrey yelled fiercely at each of his point guards.

His evening of feeling frustrated was only beginning.

In the final minutes, South Carolina played like the team that received votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25. Beverley fouled Downey in the act of shooting a 3-pointer, and Downey's two free throws snapped a 58-58 tie. Two possessions later, Weems lobbed a pass five feet over Hill and into the front row of seats behind the basket.

Plus, free throws ultimately decided the loss that snapped Arkansas' 10-game Bud Walton Arena winning streak. South Carolina drained its last six free throws -- four by Downey and two by Dominique Archie. Arkansas, meanwhile, misfired on three of its last four -- two misses by Darian Townes and one by Steven Hill.

All the factors were too much, even for a Razorback squad that was boosted by a crowd of 17,883.

"I thought our fans, our arena was going to bail us out again," Pelphrey said. "The magic and mystique of this program with the Razorbacks and the crowd ... I thought it was going to happen again."

The Razorbacks ensured it didn't.