South Carolina fans had to deal with some dreadful football news early Tuesday night when the Gamecocks were ranked 14th for the CFP, but their men’s basketball team gave them something to feel good about by night’s end with a 73-51 win at Boston College. The Gamecocks delivered the SEC a point in the SEC-ACC Challenge and improved to 2-0 in the young event.
The Gamecocks led 11-10 with 11:03 left in the first half then put together a 22-7 run to turn the game their way. USC went on to take a 36-19 lead into halftime as the Eagles made just three of their last 16 field goal attempts and finished with a 29% shooting mark for the half. The Gamecocks knocked down eight of their last 16 shots in the half. ‘
Collin Murray-Boyles recorded a double-double in the first half with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He had just a single bucket in the second half along with four boards. But the offense was spread around with four players scoring at least six points as the Gamecocks made 50% of their second half shots and went 7-9 from behind the arc.
That allowed USC to keep BC at bay and never closer than 15 points in the second half while at one point stretching the lead to 25 points.
Nick Pringle was the only other Gamecock to score in double figures with 11.
The Gamecocks, with their second straight win, improved to 5-3 and will host East Carolina Saturday afternoon.