Five things we learned from South Carolina's win over East Carolina

As South Carolina heads into final exams this week, head coach Lamont Paris is feeling good about where his team is at following a third straight win.

The Gamecocks moved to 6-3 on the year with a 75-68 win over East Carolina on Saturday. They won’t have another game until next Saturday when they host USC Upstate at Colonial Life Arena. But this was a good win for them to get with this short break coming up.

Here are five things we learned from watching the way the Gamecocks performed on Saturday.

Collin Murray-Boyles made some history

If LaNorris Sellers is South Carolina’s Superman, what does that make Collin Murray-Boyles? Because he certainly plays like a superhero and saves the day for this men’s basketball team. The sophomore forward had another big-time performance with 20 points and 10 rebounds, giving him his third double-double of the season.

Murray-Boyles did his scoring on 10-of-10 shooting. He became the third player in program history to make double-digit field goals and not miss an attempt.

It never looked like his points came difficult. He makes those tough plays look very easy. South Carolina doesn’t win that game without him. He’s been a huge difference maker.

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Give Jamarii Thomas his flowers

Most of the credit will probably go to Murray-Boyles for his electric performance to lead the Gamecocks to the win. But it’s hard to say they also don’t win without Jamarii Thomas, who had 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting with five three-pointers.

He took some time to get going in the first half with three straight missed shots and two missed free throws. Once he got his first bucket at the 6:29 mark, he got on a roll and didn’t slow down.

Combined with his defense, this is exactly what South Carolina needs from him on a gamely basis. He can be an X-factor for this team’s success moving forward.

That second half was…

Some really good basketball. The Gamecocks went on a big 17-0 run, which ended up being a key difference in making the turnaround to win the game. Keep in mind, they were trailing at halftime and once they got the lead back, they never gave it up again.

South Carolina scored 48 second-half points on 68 percent shooting from the field. On the defensive end, they forced some misses and even held East Carolina without a point for over six minutes during that 17-0 run.

The Pirates kept clawing away to stay within striking distance. But as the shots continued to fall for the Gamecocks, it became harder for a complete comeback to be made.

The three-point shooting makes a huge difference

Good news for South Carolina. When the team makes double-digit three-point shots, they usually win. They are 4-0 this year when they make at least 10 threes. That proved to be the case again on Saturday, knocking down 12 triples on 52.2 percent shooting.

In that great second-half showing, they went 8-for-12 from behind the arc and couldn’t seem to miss. Thomas and Morris Ugusuk each made three shots from deep in the final 20 minutes. Zachary Davis and Jacobi Wright each also made one three.

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This team can overcome a sluggish start but shouldn’t have to

For all the good things they did in this game, getting off to a good start in the first half was not one of them. Outside of Murray-Boyles, the Gamecocks couldn’t buy a bucket. They missed their first five three-pointers and didn’t get a single point from another player until the nine-minute mark in the first half.

Because Murray-Boyles and Thomas were able to hit their shots, the team was able to keep the game close when they were trailing. Then once the second half started, the shots started to fall and led to a seven-point win.

It’s good to see that South Carolina was able to overcome a slow start offensively. But this might not fly once SEC play begins. The competition will become a lot tougher, and it will be hard to get back into these games.

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