Murray-Boyles Scores 22, Leads Carolina By Presbyterian

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Collin Murray-Boyles scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and South Carolina rallied to beat Presbyterian 69-59 on Monday night.

Murray-Boyles made 6 of 10 shots from the floor and 10 of 14 free throws, adding nine rebounds for the Gamecocks (10-3), who upped their win streak to seven and improved to 8-1 at home.

Nick Pringle scored 14 on 5-for-6 shooting for South Carolina. Jamarii Thomas pitched in with 10 points and six assists.

Kory Mincy scored 27 points to lead the Blue Hose (7-8), who fell to 1-7 on the road. Kobe Stewart totaled 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Mincy made two 3-pointers and scored 12 to guide Presbyterian to a 32-24 lead at halftime. The Blue Hose shot 52% from the floor and hit 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. Pringle had nine points for South Carolina. He made all four of his shots before the break while his teammates made 6 of 22. Jaylen Peterson’s layup put Presbyterian up 14-13 and the Blue Hose played the final 11 minutes of the half with the lead.

Presbyterian stayed in front until Thomas buried a 3-pointer and Murray-Boyles made two free throws to give South Carolina a 42-41 lead with 11:14 left. Mincy scored five straight and the Blue Hose regained the lead. Pringle scored five in a row to give the Gamecocks a 54-50 lead with 5:26 remaining and they led the rest of the way.

South Carolina travels to play No. 17 Mississippi State on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference opener. Presbyterian returns home to play Longwood on Thursday in a Big South Conference opener.

KEY STATS

• After a tough first half shooting the ball, the Gamecocks shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) the final 20 minutes.
• For the fourth time this season, Carolina made 20 or more free throws. The Gamecocks went 20-for-30 at the line today, 27 attempts coming in the second half. Carolina is 4-0 this season in games when it makes 20 or more free throws. Today marked the third-straight game it has happened.

NOTABLES

• The Gamecocks have now won seven-straight dating back to Nov. 25, marking the longest win streak for the team since Carolina won seven-straight during a stretch in SEC play last season. The team had another seven-game win streak last season as well to start the year, culminating with a 89-67 rout of George Washington on Dec. 1, 2023.
• Today marked the team’s eighth-straight victory at home dating back to an 86-64 win over SC State on Nov. 8. The Gamecocks won 10-straight at home to start the season last year (dated back to 2023 Senior Day win over Georgia).
• Collin Murray-Boyles had another strong showing with 22 points (18 in the second half), nine rebounds, two assists and a steal. It’s his team-leading fourth 20-point game of the season. The Gamecocks improve to 4-0 on the year when he scores 20 or more.
• Nick Pringle continued his solid play with 14 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two assists. He went 5-for-6 from the field today en route to his fourth consecutive game in double figures.
• Jamarii Thomas also got into double figures for the fifth consecutive game today with 10 points. He led the team with six assists, the fourth time (20^th career game) he’s had five or more assists in a game this season.

UP NEXT

The Gamecocks hit the road for the SEC opener, traveling to No. 17/16 Mississippi State (11-1) on Saturday Jan. 4 at Humphrey Coliseum. Tip is set for 2 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with Mike Morgan (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) on the call. The Gamecocks won a 93-89 OT thriller at The Hump in the regular season finale last year.

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