Starting strong: South Carolina men take out Arkansas in SEC Tournament, 80-66
There’s only one way to stay another night in the Music City: win every game.
For the South Carolina men’s basketball team, its first opponent on the path to an SEC Tournament title was Arkansas. The lights might have been a bit bright to start things off Thursday, but the Gamecocks settled in after the game’s opening minutes, cruising to the quarterfinals round with an 80-66 win over the Razorbacks.
The Gamecocks get to keep their lights shining on Broadway for at least one more night.
“We came up short in one championship,” Ta’Lon Cooper said. “We’re here to prove we are a championship-contender team.”
Break out the scheme again
Man-to-man coverage wasn’t working against the Razorbacks. The defensive matchups across all five positions were OK but not great. Arkansas was getting the looks it wanted and nailing them, shooting 55% from the field.
So head coach Lamont Paris brought out the look that had previously saved USC from turmoil: a 1-3-1 zone defense.
Guess what? It worked again.
The Gamecocks closed out the first half forcing three straight turnovers, including a shot clock violation, giving USC a three-point halftime lead. South Carolina then began the second half with a 10-0 run, holding Arkansas scoreless for over three minutes.
“We’re a defense-minded team,” Cooper said. “Coach came in and told us we need to get stops. The more stops we get, we just deflate them.”
The Razorbacks were stumped. After a jittery start, the Gamecocks had completely shut them down.
Need some offense? Call Collin
What happens when 3-point shooting — South Carolina’s top offensive tactic — isn’t an option?
They go inside.
The Gamecocks have scored in the paint all season, but when it becomes their only reliable offensive threat, it’s not an ideal situation..
Thursday was by far USC’s worst 3-point shooting night of the year, making just three treys in 40 minutes — or just 20%. Instead, South Carolina relied almost entirely on scoring in the paint.
More specifically, the Gamecocks called upon Collin Murray-Boyles.
The freshman showed off his maturity against the Razorbacks, scoring 24 points to lead all scorers and adding four steals. Arkansas had no answer for the SEC All-Freshman team forward, who cruised through the paint with ease for the opening tip.
“I keep saying it. It hasn’t changed really,” Paris said. “But his ceiling is so high, he’s got an unbelievably high ceiling. I don’t even think he’s close to it still.”
USC’s BJ Mack nearly had a double-double on Thursday, following Murray-Boyles with 16 points and nine rebounds. Cooper was the only other Gamecock to score in double figures (11 points).
Just another part of history
South Carolina’s win over Arkansas was another chapter of an unprecedented season. It was the Gamecocks first SEC Tournament win since 2018, the first win inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena since 2015.
The 26-win mark ties the program single-season record.
There’s no denying the journey Paris has led USC on this year. Plus, no matter what happens the rest of this tournament, March Madness is right around the corner with another opportunity to shatter records from years ago.
Focusing on Friday’s SEC quarterfinals, the Gamecocks have a chance to have a rematch against Auburn, a team that took USC’s double-bye hopes out of its hands last week.
There’s something USC has that Auburn won’t have come tomorrow afternoon: the Gamecocks have some momentum. Auburn got the extra night at home, but South Carolina’s ability to pick up a dominant, second-half win puts it on the right side of things. The Tigers haven’t played in nearly a week.
“I think it could really work to your benefit. Hopefully it has,” Paris said. “We played really well today. The guys will get rested, we’ll watch a little tape tonight. Hopefully some of the guys that did some pretty good things will carry that forward in terms of confidence as we prepare to play a really, really good team tomorrow.”
More history is on deck. South Carolina just has to take it.
Other notable stats
- Murray-Boyles’ 24 points marks his fifth-straight game scoring at least 11 points, and his second time scoring over 20 points in a game.
- Murray-Boyles’ four steals against the Razorbacks ties his career-high four steels from facing Mississippi State in the regular season finale on March 9.
- Cooper’s 11 points brings his average points per game to 10.09, making him the fourth Gamecock averaging double figures this season. Murray-Boyles, Mack and Meechie Johnson all average at least 10.3 points or more.
Next USC game
No. 5 seed South Carolina will play No. 4 seed Auburn at approximately 3:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN. The previous matchup between the two was a 101-61 loss for the Gamecocks at Neville Arena on Feb. 14.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 5:24 PM.
