Collin Murray-Boyles scored 24 of his career-high 35 points in the second half as South Carolina raced out to a big lead and cruised to a wire-to-wire 72-53 win over visiting Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (12-17, 2-14 SEC) won for the second time in three games following their difficult 13-game losing streak to start league play.
Arkansas (17-12, 6-10) entered with a NET ranking of 40 and with six wins in its previous 10 games but struggled without leading scorer and rebounder Adou Thiero, who missed his second straight game with a hyperextended left knee.
Murray-Boyles made 12 of 16 shots and 11 of 12 free throws as South Carolina rebounded nicely from its 30-point loss at Missouri earlier this week. He posted his third straight 20-point game after making 10 of 11 shots at Missouri and eclipsed his previous career-best of 31 set against Vanderbilt on Feb. 10, 2024.
Nick Pringle added 18 for the Gamecocks, who shot 47.2 percent and converted 16 layups en route to 38 points in the paint.
Karter Knox scored 11 points and Jonas Aidoo scored 10 points for Arkansas. D.J. Wagner was held to eight and Johnell Davis was limited to seven and finished a combined 5 of 19. The Razorbacks missed their first 17 3-point attempts and were 3 of 22 overall on 3-pointers while shooting a dreadful 28.8 percent (15 of 52) from the field.
The Gamecocks made seven of their first 12 shots, forced six turnovers and held Arkansas to 1-of-8 shooting over the first eight-plus minutes to take a 16-2 lead on a basket by Murray-Boyles with 11:44 left. Murray-Boyles hit another layup to expand South Carolina’s lead to 23-9 with 3:44 remaining, took a 20-point lead on a 3-pointer by Morris Ugusuk with 2:05 left and held a 32-14 edge by halftime.
South Carolina continued to dominate, with a layup by Murray-Boyles opening a 40-16 lead a little over four minutes into the second half. The Gamecocks took their first 30-point lead when Jordan Butler sank a 3 to make it 50-20 with 12:12 left.
Boyles reached 30 points by hitting two free throws for a 62-28 lead with 7:37 left. He surpassed his previous career-high by hitting two more at the line to push the lead to 66-31 with 6:03 to play.
–Field Level Media
