Back to the bad: South Carolina MBB can’t get another SEC win vs. No. 14 Missouri
For one glorious Saturday, the phrases “SEC win” and “Gamecocks” shared space in the same sentence. Then, Missouri politely inserted a period.
South Carolina (11-17, 1-14 SEC) couldn’t keep pace with No. 14 Mizzou, and the Gamecocks fell 101-71 on the road Tuesday.
“They played well. I just haven’t been on this side of giving up 100 points too often,” USC head coach Lamont Paris said in his postgame radio interview with 107.5 FM. “Honestly, just as a competitor, there has to be a place where you can go to that doesn’t allow that to happen, no matter what.”
The Tigers (21-7, 10-5 SEC) pulled away midway through the first half, ballooning their lead to as much as 18 before the break. Mizzou led for almost the entirety of the game, and by as many as 32. Missouri shot 63.5% from the field overall.
Collin Murray-Boyles led all scorers with 27 points on 10 of 11 shooting (90.9%) and seven rebounds. Jamarii Thomas had 17 points. The USC bench did not score until the 7:24 mark of the second, and was outscored 41-14.
No quick lead for Missouri
Missouri is notorious for its explosive starts at home. In recent games in SEC play, the Tigers have jumped out to leads of 12-0 against No. 4 Alabama, 18-2 versus Arkansas, 14-2 against Vanderbilt and 12-4 over LSU.
This time, though, the Gamecocks managed to slow down a massive early surge — holding Mizzou to a tight 11-9 lead before the first set of reserves rotated in.
But the problem was, South Carolina couldn’t keep up with Mizzou’s shooting. Like in those quick starts, the Tigers started hot from the field, making their first four shots, even though they couldn’t get any breathing room on the scoreboard.
Until they did.
Only a matter of time
Shortly after a Murray-Boyles layup trimmed the deficit to 11-9, Missouri unleashed an 18-4 run that pushed the lead to 29-13 midway through the first half.
In that frenetic four-minute span, USC managed a couple of baskets but also turned the ball over twice — each miscue directly gifting Mizzou extra points. Overall, South Carolina’s 15 turnovers yielded 20 additional points for the Tigers.
The entirety of Missouri’s run came from the hands of Caleb Grill and Jacob Crews, who combined for four 3-pointers in that span. Mizzou shot 6 of 10 (60%) from deep in the first half and led 52-37 at the break.
The Tigers continued to extend the lead in the second half — first with an 8-2 run to open the second half, then another 9-0 run with around eight minutes left to put the lead at 32. The Tigers finished with 11 3-pointers, while the Gamecocks made just two of their 23 attempts (8.7%).
The Murray-Boyles show on a re-run
After USC’s convincing win over Texas, it seemed the Gamecocks learned to count even more on their budding NBA prospect in the hopes of sparking another win. They went to the sophomore early and often Tuesday just like they did Saturday against the Longhorns.
Murray-Boyles delivered 17 points on flawless 7 of 7 shooting in the first half, along with six rebounds. Meanwhile, the rest of the team managed just 20 points on 31.8% shooting.
“I feel like he scored every time he touched the ball,” Missouri’s Grill said in an interview with ESPNU after the game.
The difference between Saturday’s win over Texas and the Tuesday’s loss to Mizzou? Texas shot 29.6% for 22 points at halftime — a stark contrast to Missouri’s 60.6% shooting for 52 points at half. And it showed on the scoreboard.
“You have to flush it, move forward,” Paris said in the radio interview with 107.5. “... It’s been a hard season, and there were a couple guys that just didn’t respond well to a couple of things emotionally.”
Schedule: Upcoming games
- Saturday: 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 25, 2025 at 11:10 PM.
