Collin Murray-Boyles scored a career-high 31 points and headlined a key second-half run that helped No. 15 South Carolina pick up a 75-60 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, S.C.
Murray-Boyles netted 12 points and B.J. Mack added six as the Gamecocks (21-3, 9-2 Southeastern Conference) opened the second half with a 21-6 outburst, grabbing a 49-38 lead with 14:57 remaining.
A bucket down low from Murray-Boyles pushed the South Carolina lead to 14 with 8:12 left before the Commodores (6-17, 1-9) crept within nine thanks to a jumper from JaQualon Roberts and a triple from Tyrin Lawrence.
But Murray-Boyles and Mack were back at it again, with the latter canning a 3-pointer and the former throwing home a dunk to make it 65-51 with 5:56 to play.
The Gamecocks led by at least 12 the rest of the way.
Murray-Boyles went 14-for-17 from the field for the game, also hauling in seven rebounds. Mack drained five 3-pointers en route to 18 points for South Carolina, which is riding a seven-game winning streak.
Lawrence finished with a team-high 15 points as Vanderbilt lost for the ninth time in its past 10 games. Ven-Allen Lubin was the Commodores’ only other scorer in double figures with 13 points.
Vanderbilt shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc, while the Gamecocks connected on 30 of 58 shots, including 9 of 29 from long range.
Murray-Boyles and Myles Stute each had a three-point play as part of an 11-2 run that provided South Carolina with a 16-11 edge with 12:14 left in the first half.
Things were later tied at 22-all after Lubin converted a layup with 6:40 to go.
Neither team led by more than two until the final 1:28 of the period, when Lawrence sandwiched a trey and a layup around a jumper from Murray-Boyles to send the Commodores into the break up 32-28.
–Field Level Media