Murray-Boyles scores 24 as No. 15 South Carolina beats Arkansas 80-66 at SEC Tourney
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) South Carolina is pursuing a consolation prize after missing out on the Southeastern Conference regular-season title.
Winning the SEC Tournament would work out nicely for the 15th-ranked Gamecocks.
Collin Murray-Boyles scored 24 points and South Carolina took the first step Thursday, beating Arkansas 80-66.
“We’re here to prove we are a championship-contender team,” guard Ta'Lon Cooper said.
South Carolina (26-6), the No. 5 seed, took control of a back-and-forth game with a 16-0 run spanning halftime to put the Gamecocks into Friday's quarterfinals against No. 12 Auburn, the fourth seed.
The Gamecocks gave AP SEC coach of the year Lamont Paris his first conference tourney win, and they tied the 2017 Final Four team for most wins in program history. Paris' performance already has earned him a big pay raise and extension.
“This was a no-brainer, at least on my part,” Paris said of the new deal.
B.J. Mack added 19 points for South Carolina, which won its first game at this tournament since beating Ole Miss in the opening round of 2018. Ta'Lon Cooper scored 11 points.
Khalif Battle led 12th-seeded Arkansas with 20 points. Makhi Mitchell added 15 and Jalen Graham had 11.
Arkansas (16-17) faced a quick turnaround after rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit Wednesday night to beat Vanderbilt 90-85. The Razorbacks jumped out to an 11-3 lead before South Carolina got going with Murray-Boyles leading the way.
The Gamecocks scored the final six points of the first half, capped by Johnson's driving layup out of a timeout with 4.3 seconds left, to take a 38-35 lead. Murray-Boyles shot 11 of 15 overall, scored 12 points in each half and finished with seven rebounds and four assists with no turnovers.
“His ceiling is so high. He’s got an unbelievably high ceiling,” Paris said. “I don’t even think he’s close to it still.”
South Carolina opened the second half by scoring the first 10 points. The Gamecocks led by 21 in the final minutes.
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas: The Razorbacks leave with a .500 record in this tournament at 31-31. They fell to 2-3 in the second round, just missing the quarterfinals, where this program is 16-3 since joining the SEC. They also will miss the NCAA Tournament for only the second time since coach Eric Musselman took over.
“Right now the season ending stings,” Musselman said. “I have not been in this position. Hopefully the program is not. Hopefully we’re playing deeper in this tournament, but more importantly hopefully we’re playing in NCAA tournaments.”
South Carolina: The Gamecocks came in with the SEC's best scoring defense. This was their 25th game holding an opponent below 70 points and they improved to 21-0 when doing that, including 11-0 in league play. They improved to 11-0 when scoring at least 70 points against an SEC foe. ... They outscored Arkansas 52-38 in the paint.
UP NEXT
South Carolina gets a chance at some revenge Friday with a spot in the semifinals on the line. Auburn thumped the Gamecocks 101-61 on Feb. 14.
“Hopefully we’ll just play better and to some degree hopefully they won’t shoot the ball like that,” Paris said. “That would be some real bad karma if they could do that twice in a row against us.”
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AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli contributed to this report.
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| Time | Team | Play | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:00 |  | Trevon Brazile vs. Collin Murray-Boyles (El Ellis gains possession) | ||
| 19:37 |  | +3 | Trevon Brazile makes three point jump shot (Chandler Lawson assists) | 3-0 |
| 19:17 | | +2 | B.J. Mack makes two point layup | 3-2 |
| 19:17 | | Trevon Brazile shooting foul (B.J. Mack draws the foul) | ||
| 19:17 | | +1 | B.J. Mack makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 3-3 |
| 18:58 | | +3 | Trevon Brazile makes three point jump shot (El Ellis assists) | 6-3 |
| 18:28 | | Collin Murray-Boyles misses two point hook shot | ||
| 18:26 | | Chandler Lawson defensive rebound | ||
| 18:14 | | Zachary Davis personal foul (Tramon Mark draws the foul) | ||
| 18:04 | | Tramon Mark misses two point jump shot | ||
| 18:02 | | Meechie Johnson defensive rebound | ||
| 17:55 | | Meechie Johnson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 17:53 | | Trevon Brazile defensive rebound | ||
| 17:27 | | Trevon Brazile misses three point jump shot | ||
| 17:25 | | Zachary Davis defensive rebound | ||
| 17:16 | | B.J. Mack misses three point jump shot | ||
| 17:14 | | Meechie Johnson offensive rebound | ||
| 17:09 | | Zachary Davis turnover (lost ball) (El Ellis steals) | ||
| 17:03 | | Khalif Battle turnover (bad pass) (Collin Murray-Boyles steals) | ||
| 16:47 | | Ta'Lon Cooper turnover (bad pass) (El Ellis steals) | ||
| 16:36 | | +2 | Khalif Battle makes two point layup | 8-3 |
| 16:36 | | B.J. Mack shooting foul (Khalif Battle draws the foul) | ||
| 16:36 | | +1 | Khalif Battle makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 9-3 |
| 16:14 | | Collin Murray-Boyles misses two point layup | ||
| 16:12 | | Chandler Lawson defensive rebound | ||
| 16:05 | | +2 | Khalif Battle makes two point layup | 11-3 |
| 15:44 | | +2 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes two point layup (Ta'Lon Cooper assists) | 11-5 |
| 15:44 | | Trevon Brazile shooting foul (Collin Murray-Boyles draws the foul) | ||
| 15:44 | | TV timeout | ||
| 15:44 | | +1 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 11-6 |
| 15:18 | | Chandler Lawson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 15:16 | | Ta'Lon Cooper defensive rebound | ||
| 15:00 | | Jacobi Wright misses two point jump shot | ||
| 14:58 | | Khalif Battle defensive rebound | ||
| 14:50 | | Khalif Battle misses three point jump shot | ||
| 14:48 | | Collin Murray-Boyles defensive rebound | ||
| 14:26 | | +2 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes two point jump shot | 11-8 |
| 14:03 | | +2 | Chandler Lawson makes two point layup (Tramon Mark assists) | 13-8 |
| 13:44 | | +2 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes two point dunk (Jacobi Wright assists) | 13-10 |
| 13:14 | | +2 | Makhi Mitchell makes two point jump shot | 15-10 |
| 13:01 | | +2 | Ta'Lon Cooper makes two point layup (Myles Stute assists) | 15-12 |
| 12:28 | | Makhi Mitchell misses two point jump shot | ||
| 12:26 | | Jacobi Wright defensive rebound | ||
| 12:21 | | +2 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes two point layup (Jacobi Wright assists) | 15-14 |
| 11:57 | | Makhi Mitchell misses two point jump shot | ||
| 11:55 | | Myles Stute defensive rebound | ||
| 11:48 | | Josh Gray misses two point layup | ||
| 11:46 | | Tramon Mark defensive rebound | ||
| 11:38 | | Tramon Mark misses two point layup | ||
| 11:36 | | Jacobi Wright defensive rebound | ||
| 11:32 | | Khalif Battle personal foul (Ta'Lon Cooper draws the foul) | ||
| 11:32 | | TV timeout | ||
| 11:25 | | Morris Ugusuk turnover (bad pass) (Chandler Lawson steals) | ||
| 11:21 | | Chandler Lawson misses two point dunk | ||
| 11:19 | | B.J. Mack defensive rebound | ||
| 11:01 | | Tramon Mark personal foul (Morris Ugusuk draws the foul) | ||
| 10:57 | | B.J. Mack misses two point layup | ||
| 10:55 | | B.J. Mack offensive rebound | ||
| 10:52 | | +3 | Myles Stute makes three point jump shot (B.J. Mack assists) | 15-17 |
| 10:29 | | +2 | Jalen Graham makes two point layup | 17-17 |
| 10:11 | | Khalif Battle blocks Jacobi Wright's two point layup | ||
| 10:10 | | Gamecocks offensive rebound | ||
| 10:07 | | +2 | Meechie Johnson makes two point layup | 17-19 |
| 9:35 | | +3 | Khalif Battle makes three point jump shot | 20-19 |
| 9:12 | | Jalen Graham shooting foul (B.J. Mack draws the foul) | ||
| 9:12 | | +1 | B.J. Mack makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 20-20 |
| 9:12 | | +1 | B.J. Mack makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 20-21 |
| 8:58 | | +2 | Tramon Mark makes two point jump shot | 22-21 |
| 8:40 | | Jeremiah Davenport blocks Meechie Johnson's two point layup | ||
| 8:38 | | Khalif Battle defensive rebound | ||
| 8:35 | | Khalif Battle turnover (lost ball) (Ta'Lon Cooper steals) | ||
| 8:26 | | +2 | Zachary Davis makes two point layup (B.J. Mack assists) | 22-23 |
| 8:08 | | +2 | Jalen Graham makes two point layup (Tramon Mark assists) | 24-23 |
| 7:54 | | Meechie Johnson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 7:52 | | Jeremiah Davenport defensive rebound | ||
| 7:50 | | Zachary Davis personal foul (Jeremiah Davenport draws the foul) | ||
| 7:50 | | TV timeout | ||
| 7:29 | | Jeremiah Davenport misses two point jump shot | ||
| 7:27 | | B.J. Mack defensive rebound | ||
| 7:06 | | Collin Murray-Boyles misses two point layup | ||
| 7:04 | | Ta'Lon Cooper offensive rebound | ||
| 6:57 | | +2 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes two point jump shot (Jacobi Wright assists) | 24-25 |
| 6:29 | | Jeremiah Davenport misses three point jump shot | ||
| 6:27 | | B.J. Mack defensive rebound | ||
| 6:12 | | Jacobi Wright misses three point jump shot | ||
| 6:10 | | Davonte Davis defensive rebound | ||
| 6:03 | | +2 | Davonte Davis makes two point layup | 26-25 |
| 5:44 | | +2 | B.J. Mack makes two point jump shot | 26-27 |
| 5:21 | | +2 | Jalen Graham makes two point layup (Tramon Mark assists) | 28-27 |
| 5:05 | | +2 | B.J. Mack makes two point layup (Collin Murray-Boyles assists) | 28-29 |
| 4:44 | | Tramon Mark misses three point jump shot | ||
| 4:42 | | B.J. Mack defensive rebound | ||
| 4:30 | | Meechie Johnson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 4:28 | | Jalen Graham defensive rebound | ||
| 4:16 | | Jalen Graham turnover (lost ball) (Collin Murray-Boyles steals) | ||
| 3:55 | | Chandler Lawson shooting foul (Collin Murray-Boyles draws the foul) | ||
| 3:55 | | TV timeout | ||
| 3:55 | | Collin Murray-Boyles misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | ||
| 3:55 | | +1 | Collin Murray-Boyles makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 28-30 |
| 3:32 | | +2 | Makhi Mitchell makes two point layup (Khalif Battle assists) | 30-30 |
| 3:32 | | Josh Gray shooting foul (Makhi Mitchell draws the foul) | ||
| 3:32 | | +1 | Makhi Mitchell makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 31-30 |
| 3:14 | | Ta'Lon Cooper misses three point jump shot | ||
| 3:12 | | Tramon Mark defensive rebound | ||
| 2:56 | | +2 | Makhi Mitchell makes two point jump shot | 33-30 |
| 2:34 | | Makhi Mitchell shooting foul (Ta'Lon Cooper draws the foul) | ||
| 2:34 | | +1 | Ta'Lon Cooper makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 33-31 |
| 2:34 | | +1 | Ta'Lon Cooper makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 33-32 |
| 2:15 | | Morris Ugusuk shooting foul (Khalif Battle draws the foul) | ||
| 2:15 | | +1 | Khalif Battle makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 34-32 |
| 2:15 | | +1 | Khalif Battle makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 35-32 |
| 2:04 | | Myles Stute misses three point jump shot | ||
| 2:02 | | Josh Gray offensive rebound | ||
| 2:00 | | +2 | Josh Gray makes two point dunk | 35-34 |
| 1:42 | | Myles Stute personal foul (Chandler Lawson draws the foul) | ||
| 1:34 | | Chandler Lawson misses two point layup | ||
| 1:32 | | Makhi Mitchell offensive rebound | ||
| 1:22 | | Khalif Battle turnover (lost ball) (Zachary Davis steals) | ||
| 1:17 | | Jacobi Wright misses two point layup | ||
| 1:15 | | Josh Gray offensive rebound | ||
| 1:13 | | +2 | Josh Gray makes two point dunk | 35-36 |
| 0:54 | | Chandler Lawson turnover (lost ball) | ||
| 0:37 | | Meechie Johnson misses three point jump shot | ||
| 0:35 | | Khalif Battle defensive rebound | ||
| 0:04 | | Razorbacks turnover (shot clock violation) | ||
| 0:04 | | Gamecocks 30 second timeout | ||
| 0:01 | | +2 | Meechie Johnson makes two point layup | 35-38 |
| 0:00 | | End of period |