December 30, 2015 - University of Memphis guard Trahson Burrell (top) is called for a charging foul, while driving to the basket against University of South Carolina forward Michael Carrera (bottom) during first half action in Columbia, S.C. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE December 30, 2015 - University of Memphis head coach Josh Pastner was not happy with the officiating during play against University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Pastner lets official Marc Ellard know he's displeasure that Memphis was called for 41 fouls and five players fouled out of the game. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) December 30, 2015 - University of Memphis forward Dedric Lawson (bottom) falls to the floor as University of South Carolina Chris Silva (top) looses control of the ball, while teammates Trahson Burrell (second right) and Avery Woodson (right) help on the play during second half action in Columbia, S.C. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) December 30, 2015 - University of Memphis forward Deric Lawson (middle) looks to inbounds the ball in front of several University of South Carolina fans during second half action in Columbia, S.C. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) December 30, 2015 - University of Memphis forward Shaq Goodwin (right) is called for a foul while trying to the steal the ball away from University of South Carolina guard Duane Notice (left) during second half action in Columbia, S.C. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal) Related Photos Tigers vs South Carolina Gallery January 2, 2015

By Jason Smith of The Commercial Appeal

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The narrative will remain the same for now: The University of Memphis doesn't win games against nationally ranked opponents under Josh Pastner unless it's 2013-14.

The Tigers' 86-76 loss to No. 24 South Carolina before an announced crowd of 13,035 at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday ran Memphis' losing streak against teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 to seven games since March 2014.

Take out the 2013-14 season, when the Tigers went 5-6 against ranked teams, and Memphis is now 0-17 against AP-ranked teams under Pastner since he was hired in 2009.

Forget that Memphis (9-4) held undefeated South Carolina (13-0) to a season-low 31.6-percent shooting Saturday.

Forget that the Gamecocks enjoyed a 63-36 advantage in free-throw attempts, making 46 of them to the Tigers' 30.

Forget that Memphis had five players foul out of the game, including three starters (senior Shaq Goodwin, senior Trahson Burrell and freshman K.J. Lawson) and freshman Dedric Lawson, its leading scorer and rebounder.

And forget that Dedric (six points, two rebounds), who came into the game averaging 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, was clearly still bothered by an abdominal strain that kept him out of the Tigers' home win over Tulane four days ago.

Because when it all boils down, few are going to feel sorry for a Memphis team that, though it's played hard this season, hasn't won the big games on its schedule - save for an 81-76 neutral-court win over a solid, but not great Ohio State team in November.

"We played hard. We competed. I thought we did a good job defensively," Pastner said.

Memphis did all those things Saturday and led South Carolina (59-57) with less than 10 minutes left.

But in a game that saw 17 ties and 13 lead changes, the Tigers couldn't keep the Gamecocks off the free-throw line down the stretch. South Carolina hadn't attempted more than 42 free throws in a game this season and hadn't made more than 29. They blew those numbers out of the water Saturday with the help of an SEC officiating crew that called a combined 68 fouls (41 on Memphis; 27 on South Carolina).

In the meantime, Goodwin, Burrell, Dedric, K.J. and senior Ricky Tarrant - Memphis' top five scorers - combined to go 9 of 38 (23.7 percent) from the field.

The Tigers still managed to cut the Gamecocks lead to 76-73 with 2:03 left, but Dedric missed a 3-pointer that would've tied it before South Carolina senior big man Laimonas Chatkevicius made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to five.

Memphis cut the lead to three one more time with 1:05 left on a pair of Tarrant free throws. But Burrell was then called for his fifth foul on Gamecocks junior guard Sindarius Thornwell, who went 9 of 14 from the free-throw line in a team-