FINAL: South Carolina Cruises To An 80-66 Second Round Win Over Arkansas Razorbacks
South Carolina's men's basketball tested the Arkansas Razorbacks' physical will, and came out on top in their first SEC Tournament win since 2018.
At the start of the game, the perceived benefits of having 'warm legs' from playing the night before gave the Razorbacks the early advantage, as two early threes from Trevon Brazile helped propel Arkansas out to an 11-3 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Gamecocks, however, wouldn't take long to get their offensive engine going, as they fed the ball down low to Collin Murray-Boyles and got him running to the basket off some pick and roll actions, which led to the true freshman getting a team-high 12 points in the first half.
On the other end, Carolina was challenged frequently by Arkansas' guards to stay in front of them on dribble drive penetration, and while they won their share of plays, they also had times where a help defender was caught in no-mans-land, forced to cover the rim and leave his matchup open for a better shot. While both teams making it a point to attack the paint area, it was Lamont Paris' team who went into halftime with a three-point advantage.
Murray-Boyles goes past Brazile trying to attack the basket in the first half versus Arkansas (14th Mar., 2024)
Christopher Hanewinckel | USA Today Sports
Coming out of the locker room, it was the Gamecocks who began the second half with their foot on the gas pedal, as they continued to attack the paint area (scoring 14 of their first 15 second half points via that area) and dictating the battle on the glass. With South Carolina's struggles from behind the three-point line in this game (20 percent), they continue to use pick-and-roll actions with several frontcourt players to open driving lanes to the hoop.
The Gamecocks got 43 total points from their combination of BJ Mack and Collin Murray-Boyles, who shot a combined 16 of 24 from the floor and grabbed 16 rebounds. South Carolina will the play the Auburn Tigers in the quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon.
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