South Carolina ends SEC drought, cruises past Texas

Collin Murray-Boyles collected 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks as host South Carolina finally picked up its first Southeastern Conference victory by defeating Texas 84-69 on Saturday night in Columbia, S.C.

Murray-Boyles notched his eighth double-double this season and 10th of his two-year career as the Gamecocks (11-16, 1-13 SEC) played flawlessly most of the night to end a 13-game losing streak. They earned their first win since beating Presbyterian on Dec. 30.

Murray-Boyles made 9-of-16 shots before fouling out with 4:25 remaining.

Jamarii Thomas added 15 by going 12-of-13 from the free throw line as the Gamecocks scored 15 of their final 18 points at the line and converted 34 of 45 free throws. Zachary Davis contributed 12 points and Morris Ugusuk chipped in 10, all in the second half, by hitting three 3-pointers. The Gamecocks shot 43.1 percent from the floor.

Tre Johnson scored 29 points for Texas (16-11, 5-9), which was coming off an 82-78 win over Kentucky. Johnson shot 11-of-21 but had little help. He scored at least 20 points for the sixth time in his past eight games.

The Longhorns shot 29.6 percent in the opening 20 half and 40.4 percent overall as they trailed for the final 34-plus minutes.

Murray-Boyles scored 12 of South Carolina's first 24 points, and his dunk with 5:49 remaining gave the Gamecocks a 24-12 lead. Thomas sank a 3-pointer with 69 seconds remaining in the half to make it 36-22, and Murray-Boyles sank two free throws to help the Gamecocks take a 40-22 lead by halftime.

South Carolina opened its first 20-point lead when Murray-Boyles found Pringle for a dunk a little over a minute into the second half. A dunk by Davis made it 48-26 with 17:40 left and prompted Texas to burn a 30-second timeout.

Ugusuk later sank 3-pointers on consecutive trips for a 66-45 lead with over eight minutes remaining.

The Longhorns made seven straight shots, and Johnson's trey capped the spurt and cut their deficit to 70-55 with 5:36 left. Tramon Mark hit a 3-pointer that capped an 11-1 run and pulled Texas within 71-59 at the 3:54 mark. But South Carolina sank 11 free throws the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media