South Carolina men’s basketball won a conference game.

That alone would be cause for celebration, a tangible positive from a disastrous season.

Doing it this way? There is getting the proverbial money off your back, and then there is slamming it down. South Carolina crushed Texas 84-69 at Colonial Life Arena, taking the lead out to 18 points by halftime and really never looking back in probably its best performance of the campaign.

All year, the sentiment was the same. There was a feeling that if South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC) was ever going to get over the hump in SEC play, Collin Murray-Boyles would have to take over. His best performances have coincided with the closest calls, his worst the biggest defeats.

Tonight was a supernova performance, the type of game only a future NBA Draft pick can produce to will his team over the finish line. He drove to the basket effortlessly, knifing through everything Texas (16-11, 5-9 SEC) threw at him. First it was a straight man-to-man, then it was a 2-3 zone and by the second half there were two Longhorns corralling him on every post catch.

Nothing worked.

Murray-Boyles scored 22 points, hauled in 10 rebounds, tossed three assists and made his presence felt on the other end with three blocks, a do-it-all showing Texas never had an answer for. His personal 6-0 run early established some game control for South Carolina, and the defense took over from there.

A stingy, dogged effort kept Texas out of the lane, kept nearly everyone besides star guard Tre Johnson in check and gained some extra possessions with turnovers. After the Longhorns scored on the first possession of the game, they only hit one field goal over the next eight minutes of play. Another Murray-Boyles spurt with six points in under two minutes extended the advantage to double-digits, setting the stage for the true knockout punch.

With 90 seconds left in the first half, South Carolina had a healthy, but not insurmountable 32-22 lead.

At the half, it was 40-22.

A Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk free throw and a Jamarii Thomas 3-pointer accounted for four points, all building up to the game’s flashpoint. After a foul inside sent Zachary Davis to the free throw line, Texas head coach Rodney Terry — already frustrated with the officiating and a free throw discrepancy — voiced his displeasure to head referee Joe Lindsay. This time was one too many, though, and he picked up a technical foul.

South Carolina hit both technical free throws, Davis knocked down his pair, and the Gamecocks took an 18-point lead into the break.

The run deflated Texas, buoyed a South Carolina team trying to stop its losing streak in front of its home crowd, and the game never had an air of drama again.

There was tension, sure. How could there not be with such a streak on the line? And there were whistles. Lots of them. A staggering, infuriating to both coaches, 72 free throws and 50 fouls called, in fact. But the lead never dipped out of double-digits. There was no chance for a last-second turnover, a late missed shot or a controversial whistle at the buzzer.

South Carolina was better, all night.

Not the first time it has outplayed a conference opponent, but the first time the final score reflected it.

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