In a season filled with struggles and close defeats, South Carolina finally enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory as the Gamecocks dismantled Arkansas 72-53 Saturday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena.
Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles delivered a career-high 35 points on 12-of-16 shooting and added 12 rebounds to lead South Carolina (12-17, 2-14 SEC) to just their second conference win of the season. The Gamecocks jumped out to a commanding 16-2 lead and never looked back against a Razorbacks team that endured one of their worst shooting performances in recent memory.
Arkansas has their lowest scoring half since 2003 as the Razorbacks managed just 14 points on an abysmal 12.5% shooting (3-of-24) in the opening period.
Nick Pringle complemented Murray-Boyles' dominance with 18 points and 9 rebounds of his own, as South Carolina's frontcourt overwhelmed an Arkansas team that had no answers for the Gamecocks' interior attack. South Carolina outscored the Razorbacks 38-18 in the paint while shooting 47.2% for the game.
The tone was set early as the Gamecocks raced to their 16-2 advantage with five different players scoring during the opening surge. Arkansas, meanwhile, went over 10 minutes without a field goal in the first half and entered the break trailing 32-14 after shooting 0-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Any hope of an Arkansas comeback was quickly extinguished in the second half as Murray-Boyles continued his stellar play. The sophomore scored 24 of his 35 points after halftime, surpassing his previous career high of 31 set against Vanderbilt last season. His performance included an efficient 11-for-12 showing from the free-throw line as Arkansas had no defensive answer for his combination of size and skill.
The Razorbacks (17-12, 6-10 SEC) didn't connect on a three-pointer until Johnell Davis finally broke through with 3:58 remaining — their first make after 18 consecutive misses to start the game. Arkansas finished just 3-of-22 (13.6%) from distance and 15-of-52 (28.8%) overall.
Karter Knox led Arkansas with 11 points, while Jonas Aidoo added 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Razorbacks never threatened after falling behind early. Arkansas did manage to outscore South Carolina 39-40 in the second half, but the deficit was simply too large to overcome.
Jordan Butler provided a spark off the bench for South Carolina with 9 points, including two three-pointers, while Morris Ugusuk added 6 points on a pair of threes.
The Gamecocks' lead swelled to as many as 35 points at 66-31 before a late 10-0 Arkansas run made the final margin more respectable. Despite the victory, South Carolina remains at the bottom of the SEC standings with just two conference wins but will look to build momentum when they host Georgia on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. EST.
