By Ken Cross
NASHVILLE – South Carolina was able to put together a 16-0 run over about 6:30 which ended the first half and extended into the second as the Gamecocks downed Arkansas, 80-66.
Collin Murray-Boyles led SC with 24 points while BJ Mack added 19 as South Carolina’s size inside allowed the Gamecocks to shoot 52.5 percent from the floor. SC scored 17 points off of 14 Razorbacks turnovers.
Ta’lon Cooper put the exclamation point on that 16-0 run with a score in the lane with 16:43 left in the game to give the Gamecocks a 48-35 lead.
“Our main thing was defense,” stated Ta’lon Cooper. “We’re a defensive-minded team. Coach came in and told us we needed to get stops. The more stops we got, we deflated them. Our offense is going to work for itself if we play defense.”
South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles led all scorers with 24 points while the Gamecocks scored 17 points off of 14 Razorbacks turnovers.
“I thought our guys had a good effort from start to finish pretty much,” said coach Lamont Paris. “We had a couple of lulls here and there, but I just thought it was a tremendous effort the way we shared the ball, our overall energy and how we played.”
Arkansas guard Khalif Battle and forward Makhi Mitchell became a furious inside-out combination in the first half as they pushed Arkansas into a 35-32 lead over South Carolina with 2:15 left in the first half.
A huge key for USC was holding Hogs leading scorer Tramon Mark to only two points as he found just four shots in 35 minutes.