Finally! South Carolina MBB upends Texas to earn first SEC win. 3 observations
The wait is over. Finally.
After 13 games of near-misses and heartbreak, the Gamecocks broke their SEC drought with a home win that’s sure to taste extra sweet.
It sure looked extra sweet, with how the team gathered in a jubilant huddle — smiles lighting up faces for the first time since Dec. 30, the date of their last win, capturing the elusive joy of pulling out a W.
“This is just well overdue,” South Carolina sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles said. “The feeling is just a sigh of relief that we could finally taste what it’s like to win in the SEC, and let’s hopefully keep it going for the rest of conference play.”
South Carolina (11-16, 1-13 SEC) took down Texas (16-11 , 5-9 SEC) with a hard-fought 84-69 victory at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday night.
It was the Gamecocks’ first SEC home game against an unranked opponent, and they took advantage. USC was the last Power 5 team without a conference win before beating Texas.
“Relief is a good way to put it,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “The relief is that now they can take everything at face value. The whole world opened up again. They can process things differently now that they’re not consumed by that one thing (the losing streak). So I think that’s where relief comes in: That you’re able to move forward.”
In only the third-ever clash between these programs — with Texas entering as the SEC’s new kid on the block — South Carolina now leads the series 2-1, and the home team has won each time.
USC led Saturday for 33 minutes and 55 seconds and by as many as 22 points. Texas made a concerted effort to fight back late in the second half, but free throws down the stretch earned the Gamecocks the win.
Murray-Boyles led South Carolina with a double-double of 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks before fouling out with 4:23 left. Jamarii Thomas added 15 points and Zach Davis had 12. Every Gamecock who touched the floor scored.
Here are three observations from South Carolina’s first conference win:
The Collin-Murray Boyles show
It felt like the Gamecocks were determined to get the ball down low and score in the paint every single play. That resulted in them scoring 62 points from close range and at the free-throw line.
After the team’s slow offensive start, Murray-Boyles sparked a sizzling 6-0 run with back-to-back and-ones, setting off a 13-2 rally that gave USC its first double-digit lead in conference play since the January heartbreaker against Florida.
Murray-Boyles had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks by the break.
“I thought he was being really aggressive,” Paris said. “To a T, that was us having our offense generated by and large, by Collin Murray-Boyles.”
A different defensive intensity early
The Gamecocks knew this was their opportunity to get a win, and their energy from tip-off showed it. While they didn’t have the best offensive half ever, the USC defense from tip-off forced Texas to struggle early, as the Longhorns managed to shoot 2 of 12 (16.7%) from the field to start.
With Texas scoring just 22 first-half points — the second-fewest allowed by USC this season (the previous low was 19 against Boston College) — and shooting just 8 of 27 (about 29%), the pressure was on, and the Gamecocks capitalized.
Sealing the deal
Closing out games has been the Gamecocks’ recurring headache — until now. Unlike past contests, South Carolina finally held firm.
Prior to Saturday, the Gamecocks had six losses that were fully in their grasp. Five of those came at home against ranked opponents.
“Feels good to see the guys be able to rejoice when they’ve been yearning to do this so many times,” Paris said. “They’ve been on the doorstep.”
Texas got off to a dismal 1 of 6 start in the second half, but turned it on from there, making nine of its next 12 shots. The Longhorns also went on a 13-2 down the stretch of the game to trim the Gamecocks’ lead to 11 points (the lowest of the second half) with 3:20 left.
However, USC shot 50% after the break itself to fend off the Longhorns’ comeback efforts.
“I thought we did a good job of regrouping,” Paris said. “Taking the moment in, seeing what we had done and then stepping up, making free throws, getting the ball across half-court aggressively. All the things that you needed to do to win.”
Schedule: Upcoming games
- Tuesday: at Missouri, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
- March 1: vs Arkansas, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 4: vs Georgia, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
- March 8: at Tennessee, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM.
