The No. 15 South Carolina men’s basketball team defeated the Ole Miss Rebels in slim fashion on Tuesday night, winning 68-65.
The Gamecocks were able to hang on late despite boasting a 17-point lead early in the second half.
“We had some stretches of doing some really good stuff, executed offensively, generated some high quality situations”, head coach Lamont Paris said. “And then we had small pockets of doing some stuff that I thought was just uncharacteristic.”
The Gamecocks looked to be in cruise control early, heading into the half leading the Rebels 43-31 on an impressive 18-29 from the field. South Carolina generated many of its opportunities from behind the arc in the first half, shooting 7-14 from the 3-point line.
Junior guard Myles Stute led the way off the bench for the Gamecocks in the first half, going three for three from behind the arc for all 9 of his points. The Gamecocks also impressively recorded assists on 12 of the 18 made field goals in the first half.
The Gamecocks’ shooting didn’t remain as impressive in the second half, though, as the team would go on to shoot 10-31 from the field and 2-13 from three. The team lacked any sort of flow in the offense late in the second half and relied on defense to maintain the lead.
As a result of the shooting woes, Ole Miss came back into the game.
The Rebels turned a 53-36 deficit with 15 minutes remaining into only a 2-point deficit at 62-60 with seven minutes left. While the Rebels never led in the second half, it put plenty of pressure on the Gamecocks late in the game.
The Rebels were backed by fifth-year guard Allen Flanigan, who scored 26 points on 11-15 shooting from the field, with six rebounds to go along with it. Flanigan thrived in the midrange, where he almost single handedly brought Ole Miss back on the offensive end.
Despite being shown plenty of pressure late in the game, the Gamecocks responded with toughness on the defensive end. South Carolina only allowed 2 points for a little over the last five minutes, sealing the win for the Gamecocks.
The hero for South Carolina was freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks and featured a late-game block on 7-foot-5 Ole Miss fifth-year forward Jamarion Sharp, a massive play that shifted the momentum back in the direction of the Gamecocks.
“I was just in my spot, just being able to help,” Murray-Boyles said. “(Senior forward) B.J. (Mack) stepped up, knowing I’m taught to be the next helper, so I got over there and made a play.”
Murray-Boyles’ contributions were crucial for a Gamecocks victory, as Mack had a subpar offensive output for his standards, scoring 6 points on 2-9 shooting while going 0-4 from three. Junior guard Meechie Johnson, likewise, scored only 6 points on 2-9 shooting, but his contributions came in the assist column, where he tallied eight.
The win marks a six-game win streak for Paris’ team, now boasting a 20-3 overall record in its first week being on the AP Poll since 2017.
“It just showed that whether we’re ranked or not we’re still going to play South Carolina basketball at the end of the day,” graduate guard Ta’Lon Cooper said. “This game that we just had, how close it was, it just showed how we can just weather the storm no matter under any circumstance.”
The No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks (20-3, 8-2 SEC) will be back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when it takes on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Colonial Life Arena. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.