Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link
Gamecocks+
Gamecocks Fall to No. 22/22 Xavier, 75-66, at Fort Myers Tip-Off
Men's Basketball  . 

Gamecocks Fall to No. 22/22 Xavier, 75-66, at Fort Myers Tip-Off

South Carolina Athletics

Carolina led by five at halftime but was plagued by poor shooting the final 20 minutes

Final Box (PDF) Season Stats (PDF)

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Zach Freemantle scored 16 points, Dailyn Swain added 14, and No. 22 Xavier beat South Carolina 75-66 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Monday night.

Ryan Conwell added 13 points, Dayvion McKnight had 11 and Jerome Hunter chipped in 10 off the bench for the Musketeers (6-0).

Collin Murray-Boyles led South Carolina (3-3) with 13 points while Jamarii Thomas added 11 and Jacobi Wright 10.

The Musketeers jumped out to a 7-0 lead but South Carolina responded with the next 17 points as Xavier went scoreless for 6:35. The Gamecocks led 34-29 at halftime.

These teams last played in the 1941-42 season. Xavier now is 26-11 against SEC schools going back to 2008.

This was the Musketeers’ first game away from the Cintas Center after starting the season with five home games. Xavier has a brutal stretch coming up that will included three straight games at No. 16 Cincinnati (Dec. 14), at No. 2 UConn (Dec. 18) and at home against No. 10 Marquette (Dec. 21).

The Gamecocks 17-0 run was highlighted by great defense. Xavier had no second chances, was contested on drives and couldn’t hit from the outside.

Xavier used 11-2 and 8-2 runs to regain the lead at 50-44. The Musketeers led by as much as 66-55 before South Carolina went on a 7-0 spurt. The Gamecocks would get no closer.

Xavier won despite shooting 4 of 18 from the 3-point line. The Musketeers had made at least 10 treys in their first five games.

KEY STAT

  • Xavier capitalized on Carolina’s 12 turnovers, turning them into 20 points on their end of the floor with a 21-10 edge in fastbreak points.
  • After shooting almost 50 percent the opening 20 minutes, the Gamecocks shot just 38.7 percent (12-of-31) in the second half. Carolina was 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from behind the arch in the game.

NOTABLES

  • Sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles led the team with 13 points and six rebounds as he was efficient from the floor again, going 4-of-5. He’s shooting 64.7 percent from the field thru the first six games this season.
  • Senior transfer Jamarii Thomas (11) and senior Jacobi Wright (10) were also in double figures for Carolina.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks will face Virginia Tech (3-3) on Wednesday in the consolation game of the Fort Myers Tip-Off at 6 p.m. (ET) on FS1.

###

Related stories