COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Jacobi Wright hit four 3-pointers and scored 20, Collin Murray-Boyles finished with 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, and South Carolina cruised to an 86-64 victory over South Carolina State on Friday night.
Wright made seven of his 10 shots from the floor, including 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, for South Carolina (1-1). Murray-Boyles hit 7 of 8 shots and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line, adding four assists. It was the sophomore’s first double-double after collecting two — in back-to-back games — last season.
Jamarii Thomas scored 14 on 5-for-8 shooting for the Gamecocks. Zachary Davis pitched in with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Michael Teal had 11 points to lead South Carolina State (1-1). Wilson Dubinsky had 10 points off the bench.
Davis hit a jumper to cap a 7-0 run to begin the game and South Carolina never looked back. Murray-Boyles had 12 points and eight rebounds by halftime to help the Gamecocks take a 41-25 lead into the locker room.
The Bulldogs trimmed their deficit to 11 three minutes into the second half but got no closer.
The Gamecocks are 23-0 in the series. The last time the two schools squared off was in the opener of the 2022-23 season. The Gamecocks held off the Bulldogs 79-77 in head coach Lamont Paris’ coaching debut at South Carolina.
Next up for South Carolina is a home game against Towson on Tuesday.
KEY STAT
South Carolina had 51 rebounds tonight, tied for the most in the Lamont Paris era. The Gamecocks also had 51 rebounds in a non-conference win back on Dec. 22, 2022 in Paris’ first season.
The Gamecock defense held the Bulldogs to just 35.8 percent shooting for the game and
NOTABLES
In games where his team scores 80 or more points dating back to his first season as a head coach at Chattanooga in 2017-18, Paris’ teams are now 40-4 (.909 win percentage).
Senior Jacobi Wright set a new career-high with 20 points. He was an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from downtown.
Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles had his third career double-double tonight with 19 points and a new career-high 16 rebounds. He was 7-of-8 from the floor and also tied for the team lead with four assists.
Senior transfer guard Jamarii Thomas had 14 points and three assists.
Junior wing Zachary Davis put together a nice stat line with 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks welcome in Towson (1-1) for another 7 p.m. (ET) tipoff on Tuesday night. Carolina has two previous meetings with the Tigers, the last coming in the non-conference finale on Dec. 30 1997, a 65-55 Gamecock win at Carolina Coliseum. Carolina will then travel to No. 17/18 Indiana (1-0) on Saturday to face the Hoosiers at historic Assembly Hall.
Categories: Local Sports, South Carolina Sports, Sports, USC Gamecocks