NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Guards Matthew Fisher-Davis, Nolan Cressler and Riley LaChance combined for 44 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 71-62 upset over No. 21 South Carolina on Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium.

The trio had 17, 13 and 14 points, respectively, as another great performance from Carolina guard Sindarius Thornwell (21 points) went to waste. Vanderbilt (14-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) has now won five of its last seven games.

"Really proud of our guys," Commodores coach Bryce Drew said. "South Carolina is a top-25 team, and plays some of the best defense in the country, and our guys really did a good job of moving the ball and getting defensive stops when we needed it."

South Carolina (20-7, 10-4), meanwhile, has now dropped three of its last four, and fell two games behind Florida and Kentucky for the SEC title chase with four games left.

The Gamecocks forced 15 turnovers, but a 59.1 percent performance from the foul line, which included three key misses in the final two minutes, proved fatal.

Carolina also went cold from the field late. Guard Hassani Gravett hit a jumper from the right baseline with 9:40 left, which would be the last field goal the Gamecocks hit until guard P.J. Dozier hit a long 3-pointer -- the only one Carolina hit all night, in nine attempts -- with 24 seconds remaining.

South Carolina coach Frank Martin thought the Gamecocks missed some good opportunities during that stretch, and also cited Dozier's 0-of-5 performance from the foul line.

But at the same time, Martin acknowledged that Vanderbilt's defense had something to do with the outcome.

"Give them credit," Martin said. "They stayed in the way, they didn’t make it easy for us."

Trailing by five after South Carolina center Carlos Silva scored the half's opening points on a layup, LaChance followed with two 3-pointers, plus a three-point play on a layup in traffic, helping Vanderbilt build a 40-36 lead after forward Joe Toye sliced through traffic for a layup with 16:21 left.

It was a tight game with a number of lead changes from there. Silva hit an assortment of short shots to help the Gamecocks go up as many as six. The Commodores, playing with center Luke Kornet on the bench with four fouls, took a 55-54 lead with under eight to play after Fisher-Davis connected on a long 3-pointer from the left side.

With 3:14 left, LaChance buried a 3-pointer from the right side with a man in his face, putting the Commodores up 64-58.

Then it became a free throw shooting contest, with the Commodores hitting 7 of 8, including five from forward Jeff Roberson, from there.

It wasn't the most entertaining first half. The teams combined for 22 first-half fouls, with four players on each team picking up at least two fouls, and Vanderbilt forwards Roberson and Clevon Brown each getting a third before the eight-minute mark.

Thornwell capitalized on Vanderbilt's foul trouble, scoring six of his 14 first-half points from the charity stripe.

The Commodores committed 11 first-half turnovers, but thanks to Fisher-Davis' 12 points off the bench, Vandy trailed just 30-27 at the half.

Cressler's eight first-half points also helped. All came on layups and dunks, which opened up the outside for the Commodores -- they were 9 of 25 (36 percent) against America's second-ranked 3-point defense -- later.

"(Vanderbilt) put their head down and drove the ball, and we haven't done a good job of guarding the ball the last 12 days or so," Martin said.

Vanderbilt has endured some tough moments in Drew's first season as its coach. A four-game losing streak in January dropped Vanderbilt to 8-10, but the Commodores have racked up four nice wins -- wins at home in this one and against Iowa State, and road victories at Florida and Arkansas—since.

With an RPI of 59 and the sixth-toughest schedule coming into Saturday night, the Commodores could have a shot at an NCAA Tournament bid with a strong finish.

"We know we have a really good strength of schedule and we knew we needed to get this one to at least have a little bit of a chance," LaChance said. "We're clawing our way into the conversation."

NOTES: G Matthew Fisher-Davis extended Vanderbilt's streak of games with a made 3-pointer to 991 with a 3 from the right corner early in the first half. ... Fisher-Davis again came off the bench, with F Joe Toye starting in his place for the fourth-straight game. ... South Carolina G Sindarius Thornwell topped the 20-point mark for the 12th time in his 21 games this season. ... Vanderbilt celebrated “Equality Weekend,” which commemorated former Commodore Perry Wallace becoming the SEC's first African-American basketball player 50 years ago.