South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks earn 7th win in a row, stay in 1st place in SEC

South Carolina basketball defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores at home for their 7th win in a row to maintain their spot at the top of the SEC standings.

South Carolina basketball star freshman Collin Murray-Boyles
South Carolina basketball star freshman Collin Murray-Boyles | Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
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South Carolina Basketball vs. Vanderbilt Commodores
Stats, Scoring, and Observations

South Carolina basketball did not play particularly well in the 1st half against Jerry Stackhouse's team and trailed by 4 points heading into the intermission, but they rode Collin Murray-Boyles and BJ Mack to a huge 2nd half, beating the Commodores 75-60.

Here are the stats from the game:

STATS

Vanderbilt

Points

Leader: Tyrin Lawrence with 15

Rebounds

Leader: Four players each with 4 points

Assists

Leader: Ezra Manjon with 3

Steals

Leader: Ezra Manjon with 2

Blocks

Leader: None

Other

The Commodores shot an abysmal 3-10 from the free throw line

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles with 31

Rebounds

Leader: Collin Murray-Boyles with 7

Assists

Leader: Ta'Lon Cooper with 7

Steals

Leader: Meechie Johnson and Collin Murray-Boyles each with 1

Blocks

Leader: Josh Gray with 2

Other

The Gamecocks made 1-11 of his 3-pointers in the 1st half but bounced back to shoot 8-18 after halftime; BJ Mack made 5 3-pointers

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

  • Starters: Ta’Lon Cooper-Meechie Johnson-Zach Davis-BJ Mack-Collin Murray-Boyles
  • Vanderbilt hit some tough shots early.
  • The Commodores had no one who could match up with Collin Murray-Boyles' combination of size and athleticism. He had 11 points in the 1st half on 5-7 shooting.
  • Other than CMB, though, the Carolina offense seemed bogged down. They got a fair amount of open outside shots, but they weren't falling. Everything else looked slow and unsure.
  • Ezra Manjon ran the show early, getting some quality looks for himself and for his teammates.
  • The officials let a lot of contact go in the 1st half.
  • The Gamecocks shot just 1-11 from outside in the opening 20 minutes.
  • Vandy outrebounded Carolina in the 1st half 17-13.
  • The halftime break saw the Gamecocks come out with much more energy and focus after halftime. The shooting was better, the tempo was quicker, and the rebounding improved.
  • For the game, USC had 2isjfosu turnovers, but 3 of them came within 2 minutes of game action early in the 2nd half. The Gamecocks took care of the basketball well.
  • The Collin Murray-Boyles domination was even more apparent in the 2nd half. He finished the game with 31 points on 14-17 shooting; he had 4 big dunks and 3 and-one conversions. It was the most points from a Gamecock since Jermaine Couisnard scored 33 against LSU two years ago.