The South Carolina men's basketball team (11-17, 1-13 SEC) notched its first win of 2025 on Saturday night, defeating the Texas Longhorns (16-11, 5-9 SEC) 84-69 at Colonial Life Arena. The victory ends a 13-game losing streak in Southeastern conference play.
Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles made his presence felt immediately scoring 8 of the first 12 Gamecocks points. Defense was especially a strong point of the first half for South Carolina, holding Texas to only 7 points in the first 10 minutes.
Free throws were a huge stat in the first half with the Gamecocks making 14-16 attempts to only five made free throws for the Longhorns. The free throw line has provided ample opportunities for the Gamecocks this season, where it ranks 16th in the country in free throw attempts per game.
The Gamecocks also took care of the basketball only turning it over twice compared to six for the Longhorns. In doing this, the Gamecocks controlled the pace and ended the first half on an 8-0 run.
Murray-Boyles led the way in the first half with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Jamarii Thomas also had strong a opening frame contributing 8 points and three assists of his own, helping the Gamecocks take a 40-22 lead into halftime.
The Gamecocks started right where it left off to begin the second half. A Collin Murray-Boyles basket and-1 followed by a steal and dunk by junior guard Zachary Davis stretched the lead to 20 points and forced a Texas timeout less than three minutes into the second half.
The Gamecocks not only continued to limit turnovers but played complimentary basketball, never allowing the Longhorns to close the gap.
The lone star for Texas was freshmen guard Tre Johnson, who accounted for nearly half of the Longhorns' offense with 29 points.
Texas made things interesting by utilizing a highly effective full court press, cutting the lead to 11 with less than four remaining. The Gamecocks, despite only making one field goal in the last 10 minutes, capitalized at the free throw line with a season-high in makes and attempts, shooting 34-45 from the line.
Despite fouling out, Murray-Boyles notched his eighth double-double of the season finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Murray-Boyles was one of four Gamecocks in double figures along with sophomore guard Morris Ugusuk and Davis who contributed 10 and 12 points, respectively. Thomas made his impact with 15 points, knocking down a game-high of 12 free throws.
Aggression from Murray-Boyles
Dominating on both ends of the floor, Murray-Boyles was everywhere for the Gamecocks. Drawing three defenders at times and finishing with a plus minus of +19, he not only had a double-double but had three assists and three blocks as well.
“He played terrific ... we really had no answer for him,” Texas head coach Rodney Terry said.
Being assertive offensively and finishing through contact made him relatively unguardable against the Longhorns. Head coach Lamont Paris said that this was the team at its best with Murray-Boyles being the engine.
“That was us, having our offense generated buy in large by Collin Murray-Boyles," Paris said.
Physical contest
In a game that had 50 fouls and 72 free throws, both teams played extremely hard. Whether it was Murray-Boyles driving to the basket with contact or one of Longhorn forward senior Kadin Shedrick’s five blocks, every basket on both ends had to be earned.
“I thought our guys battled in the second half ... but you can’t get out-physicaled in the first 20 minutes of the game,” Terry said.
Thomas led the way for the Gamecocks defensively, pressuring the ball and constantly disrupting any Longhorn rhythm offensively.
“Let them know they're not going to be comfortable tonight,” Thomas said.
A sigh of relief
Ending a historic losing streak, the Gamecocks will look to build on the victory. Paris said that enduring such a long losing streak can change the mentality as a team.
“Relief is a good way to put it,” Paris said. "At some point, it's easy to be consumed by that, and you're not even really looking at the performance necessarily."
Paris said that this can be the turning point late in the season for the Gamecocks.
“The whole world opened up again,” Paris said. "They can listen to things differently that I say, they can process things differently now that they're not consumed by that one thing."
The Gamecocks protected the ball late in the game, finishing with just eight turnovers and only two in the first half. Paris said the ability to keep possession and endure the late-game run by Texas helped his team find the win column.
“That was key to the game,” Paris said. "I give them a lot of credit for managing that run. I thought that run in particular was the one that allowed us to find a way to victory."
What's next?
The Gamecocks (11-16, 1-13 SEC) will head to Columbia, Missouri to face the No. 15 Missouri Tigers (20-7, 9-5 SEC) on Tuesday night. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPNU.