Early second-half surge carries South Carolina past East Carolina

Jamarii Thomas scored 22 points with seven assists as South Carolina overcame a slow start to earn a 75-68 victory over visiting East Carolina Saturday in Columbia, S.C. Collin Murray-Boyles supplied 20 points by going 10 of 10 from the floor, and added 10 rebounds, as the Gamecocks (6-3) rallied from an early 11-point deficit to win their third straight game. South Carolina still trailed by seven points at 34-27 in the opening minute of the second half before overwhelming East Carolina with a 17-0 run. Murray-Boyles' perfect shooting game helped the Gamecocks to 54.0 percent accuracy from the floor. South Carolina also made 12 of 23 (52.2 percent) from 3-point range, with Thomas hitting 5 of 8 attempts from long range. Jordan Riley scored 18 points, RJ Felton had 15 and C.J. Walker added 14 points and six rebounds for East Carolina (7-3), which has lost consecutive games. The Pirates made 49.1 percent of their attempts from the floor and 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from deep. Murray-Boyles triggered the Gamecocks' decisive 17-0 spree with a trio of layups and Jacobi Wright added a 3-pointer. Nick Pringle, who finished with eight points and 10 rebounds, closed the run with back-to-back three-point plays as South Carolina grabbed a 44-34 lead. During a span of less than seven minutes later in the second half, the Gamecocks made 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range, with Morris Ugusuk hitting three straight tries. In the first half, the Gamecocks got off to a cold start as Murray-Boyles was the only South Carolina player who scored from the floor in the first 13:31 of the game. At the other end of the floor, the Pirates took advantage of the Gamecocks' pressure defense as they worked for quality shots with backdoor cuts and slip screens. East Carolina bolted to the lead with a 12-1 run, triggered by a layup and a tip-in by Walker. A jumper by Felton ended the spree and gave the Pirates their largest advantage of the half at 18-7. After South Carolina players other than Murray-Boyles missed their first 13 shots of the game, Thomas ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 6:29 left in the half. Thomas added another 3-pointer and four more points in the rest of the half as the Gamecocks cut the deficit to 32-27 at the break. - Field Level Media