Murray-Boyles, No. 15/20 South Carolina pull away in second half for 75-60 victory over Vanderbilt

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Collin Murray-Boyles scored a career-high 31 points and No. 15 South Carolina beat Vanderbilt 75-60 on Saturday for its 21st victory of the season a year after losing 21 games.

The Gamecocks (21-3, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) took control in the second half with a 24-10 run that including 12 points and a monster block from Murray-Boyles, the 6-foot-7 freshman who has helped the team to seven straight wins.

Murray-Boyles chased down Vanderbilt guard Ezra Manjon, who had what looked like an open lane to the basket early in the second half. But Murray-Boyles pinned the shot against the backboard as the crowd went crazy.

The Commodores (6-17, 1-9) entered the game in the bottom of the league in points per game and field-goal percentage.

But Vanderbilt used a patient approach to South Carolina’s suffocating defense that got the better of Kentucky and Tennessee in the past three weeks. The Commodores often let the shot clock get inside of five seconds before finding a makeable shot.

Tyrin Lawrence had seven points, including an all-alone layup under the basket off an inbounds play, as Vanderbilt closed the half with a 14-6 run to lead 32-28 at the break before South Carolina took over.

Murray-Boyles made 14 of 17 shots, his last one a rim-rattling dunk in the final minute. B.J. Mack hit five 3-pointers and finished with 18 points for the Gamecocks.

Lawrence led Vanderbilt with 15 points.

KEY STAT

• South Carolina tied a season-high with 47 second half points on 56.3 percent shooting (18-for-32). Carolina utilized an 18-8 run to open the second half turning their one-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

NOTABLES

• Freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles had a career-high 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting and led the Garnet & Black with seven rebounds. It marks the first 30-point game by a Gamecock since Gregory “GG” Jackson II scored 30 vs. No. 16/17 on Jan. 21, 2023. Murray-Boyles has scored in double-figures in three straight games and has led Carolina in rebounding five times this season.
• Murray-Boyles joins Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard as the only freshman in the SEC this season to score 20 or more points on 10 or more made field goals this season.
• He’s the first Power Five freshman since Zion Williamson in the 2019 ACC Tournament to score 25 or more points, on 13 or more made field goals while shooting 80.0 percent or higher.
• Murray-Boyles is just the third South Carolina player with 30 points on 80.0 percent shooting in the last 25 seasons (Chris Silva in 2019 and Laimonas Chatkevicius in 2016).
• Graduate forward B.J. Mack finished with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting and grabbed six boards. Mack has scored in double-figures 15 times this season and tied a career-high with five 3-pointers.
• Graduate guard Ta’Lon Cooper led the Gamecocks with seven assists and no turnovers. He now has four games this season with 5+ helpers and no turnovers. Cooper entered today’s game 10^th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.38:1) and third in the SEC in assists per game (4.3).
• Junior guard Meechie Johnson also dished out five assists and now has 22 helpers to just three turnovers over his last four games.
• The Gamecock defense has now held 20 opponents (nine in conference play) to less than 70 points this season. Carolina entered 17^th nationally and 1^st in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 64.1 points per game.
• Carolina now has 10 single-digit turnover games this season. The 2007-08 team had 12 games with single-digit giveaways, the most by a Gamecock team since entering the SEC in 1991-92.
• The Garnet & Black improve to 16-0 this year when scoring 70 or more points and 9-0 when holding opponents to 60 or less.
• The win gives head coach Lamont Paris his 21st victory this season, the most by a second-year head coach in program history. George Felton is second behind Paris with 19 wins in his second season (1987-88)
• The victory is the team’s seventh straight SEC win, the longest active win streak in the league and the ninth seven-game or better win streak in the SEC since the 2019-20 season.
• The win also gives the team a 10 win improvement from last season, which is T-2nd best, single-season turnaround in program history based off win totals (10 win improvement from 1939-40 to 1940-41).
• The Gamecocks 9-2 start is just the third 9-2 or better start all-time in SEC play. The 2015-16 team started 9-2 and the 1996-97 team started 11-1.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks (21-3, 9-2 SEC) head west to the plains of No. 12/11 Auburn (19-4, 8-2 SEC) in a top-25 battle of teams tied atop the SEC standings currently. Kevin Fitzgerald (pxp) and Jon Sundvold (analyst) will be on the call for the 8:30 p.m. (ET) SEC Network broadcast.

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