South Carolina coach Frank Martin was studying his players and looking for proof they were ready to rebound from the team's first loss.

He only needed to take a quick glance at Sindarius Thornwell.

The junior guard scored 22 points and No. 19 South Carolina recovered from its lone defeat of the season to register an 81-72 victory over Missouri an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

Senior forward Mindaugas Kacinas added 14 points for the Gamecocks (16-1, 3-1 SEC), who bounced back from a 73-50 loss to Alabama on Wednesday.

Freshman guard PJ Dozier added 11 points and seven rebounds and senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius had 10 points and seven rebounds for South Carolina.

"I'm proud of our guys," Martin said. "We got back in character today."

Junior guard Wes Clark scored a career-high 26 points and added eight assists for Missouri (8-9, 1-3). It was a big outing for Clark, who suffered a season-ending dislocated right elbow while diving for a loose ball last season at South Carolina.

"I had a few jitters when we walked into this building from the last time I walked in here," Clark said. "I got injured and it ended my season. There was a little nervousness for me; but, as time went on, I got to playing and got comfortable."

Senior forward Ryan Rosburg made all six of his shots while scoring 12 points for the Tigers, who have lost 19 consecutive road games.

"I'm not happy with losing, but I'm pretty proud of these guys," Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. "It's been a tough week. I thought they responded pretty well."

Nobody responded better than Thornwell, who tagged five rebounds, four assists and three steals to go with his 11th career 20-point outing.

"The biggest thing he does is he's got a full understanding of what we're doing and then he understands college basketball," Martin said. "He knows when to go and when not to go.

"Offensively, he made one mistake, and that was that charge that they called. That's the only mistake he made."

Missouri trailed by four points early in the second half before South Carolina opened up a double-digit lead.

Back-to-back baskets by freshman forward Chris Silva -- the latter an arena-rousing dunk -- lifted the Gamecocks' advantage to 54-43 with 12:32 remaining.

The Tigers battled back and Clark's basket with 3:34 to play moved them to within 71-64. But a three-point play by Kacinas with 1:09 remaining thwarted Missouri's charge as South Carolina improved to 10-0 at home.

"It wasn't about making shots," Martin said. "It was about playing our kind of basketball."

Thornwell had 13 first-half points as South Carolina held a 41-34 lead at intermission.

Missouri missed its first four shots and committed five turnovers while the Gamecocks were jumping out to an 8-0 lead.

The Tigers were within four points after a basket by Rosburg with 13:32 left in the half before Thornwell scored five points during a 9-0 run that gave South Carolina a 23-10 lead.

The lead was again 13 points 3 1/2 minutes later before Missouri rattled off 10 straight points -- with a 3-pointer by sophomore forward D'Angelo Allen moving the Tigers within 27-24.

Missouri trailed by one later in the half, but Dozier scored back-to-back baskets and Chatkevicius scored on a dunk to give the Gamecocks the seven-point halftime lead.

NOTES: South Carolina sophomore G Marcus Stroman missed the game because of concussion symptoms, stemming from a blow to the face that required three stitches over his eye during the loss to Alabama. ... The Tigers haven't won on the road since posting a 75-71 win at Arkansas on Jan. 28, 2014. ... The Gamecocks were 3 of 21 from 3-point range. ... Missouri accepted a scholarship reduction and banned itself from postseason play this season earlier this week because of NCAA violations under previous coach Frank Haith. The school also vacated all 23 of its wins during the 2013-14 season.