Wright, Murray-Boyles Power Gamecocks to Win Over SC State

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Jacobi Wright hit four 3-pointers and scored 20, Collin Murray-Boyles finished with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, and South Carolina cruised to an 86-64 victory over South Carolina State on Friday night. 

Wright made seven of his 10 shots from the floor, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, for South Carolina (1-1). Murray-Boyles hit 7 of 8 shots and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line, adding four assists. It was the sophomore’s first double-double after collecting two — in back-to-back games — last season.

Jamarii Thomas scored 14 on 5-for-8 shooting for the Gamecocks. Zachary Davis pitched in with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Michael Teal had 11 points to lead South Carolina State (1-1). Wilson Dubinsky had 10 points off the bench.

Davis hit a jumper to cap a 7-0 run to begin the game and South Carolina never looked back. Murray-Boyles had 12 points and eight rebounds by halftime to help the Gamecocks take a 41-25 lead into the locker room.

The Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to 11 three minutes into the second half but got no closer.

The Gamecocks are 23-0 in the series. The last time the two schools squared off was in the opener of the 2022-23 season. The Gamecocks held off the Bulldogs 79-77 in head coach Lamont Paris’ coaching debut at South Carolina.

Next up for South Carolina is a home game against Towson on Tuesday.

KEY STAT

• South Carolina had 51 rebounds tonight, tied for the most in the Lamont Paris era. The Gamecocks also had 51 rebounds in a non-conference win back on Dec. 22, 2022 in Paris’ first season.
• The Gamecock defense held the Bulldogs to just 35.8 percent shooting for the game and

NOTABLES

• In games where his team scores 80 or more points dating back to his first season as a head coach at Chattanooga in 2017-18, Paris’ teams are now 40-4 (.909 win percentage).
• Senior Jacobi Wright set a new career-high with 20 points. He was an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from downtown.
• Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles had his third career double-double tonight with 19 points and a new career-high 16 rebounds. He was 7-of-8 from the floor and also tied for the team lead with four assists.
• Senior transfer guard Jamarii Thomas had 14 points and three assists.
• Junior wing Zachary Davis put together a nice stat line with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks welcome in Towson (1-1) for another 7 p.m. (ET) tipoff on Tuesday night. Carolina has two previous meetings with the Tigers, the last coming in the non-conference finale on Dec. 30 1997, a 65-55 Gamecock win at Carolina Coliseum. Carolina will then travel to No. 17/18 Indiana (1-0) on Saturday to face the Hoosiers at historic Assembly Hall.

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