What is the cause for Collin Murray-Boyles' recent struggles? Lamont Paris explains

Throughout this season, Collin Murray-Boyles has been South Carolina’s saving grace, a reliable playmaker the Gamecocks can always count on. But even the best players are bound to hit a wall every now and then.

As the team is off to an 0-2 start in SEC play, Murray-Boyles hasn’t performed like his usual self. In fact, it’s been nowhere near his standard level of production.

The sophomore forward has combined for 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting with eight turnovers in his last two games. It could be viewed as just a minor slump; one he’ll surely get out of soon enough with his talent. For right now, he’s been having a tough time to start the new year as the competition has ramped up.

“Some of it is doubling. Some of it’s, though, I think he’s been sped up a little bit,” head coach Lamont Paris said of Murray-Boyles’ recent struggles. “I think there was more traffic in the Mississippi State game. You got to make decisions in traffic and sometimes in a short amount of time. He didn’t do a great job that way.”

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The turnovers have been an issue for Murray-Boyles all season long, with three or more in eight games, as he’s now up to a team-high 42. After his six-turnover showing against No. 14 Mississippi State over the weekend, he only had two in an 88-68 loss to No. 5 Alabama on Wednesday. However, he couldn’t generate much on offense, which South Carolina usually counts on him for.

“I think if you look at the common denominator in these last two games,” Paris said, “if you look at from a personnel standpoint who was guarding him most of the game, you have two guys that are really strong, that are also very mobile, and that’s also what Collin does.

“That’s why from a defensive standpoint he’s hard to score on often times. Most of the guys that guard him usually have one of those. They can match his physical strength and power, or they’re agile enough to stay in front of him when he makes a quickness move. I just think it turned out in both these last two games, you had two guys that were able to do that.”

Murray-Boyles faced a heap of double teaming from Mississippi State, which seemed to impact his abilities. Then against Alabama, he primarily matched up with 6-foot-7 forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who shut him down in his 17 minutes.

“I thought Mo Dioubate’s defense on a Murray-Boyles was one of the big, big keys in the game, to be honest with you,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats. “A lot of people have him in the first round of the draft. He shot 1-for-6 tonight, only had six points, and I thought Dioubate did a great job guarding him. Mo’s plus-19 in his 17 minutes when he was in. He really impacts the game in a big way. I was happy with his effort.” 

Oats referenced how Dioubate’s strength makes it tough to where opposing players can’t move him. When Murray-Boyles went up against him, that was essentially how it played out in the game. He finished with six points on 1-of-6 shooting and eight rebounds in 28 minutes.

“I think maybe the last Collin took on the night, he just kind of threw it up there. He couldn’t really move Mo at all,” Oats said. “He’s long. He moves well. He’s tough. … He’s a guy that, if we’re ever not playing tough enough, he’s going to bring toughness. That’s what he does, and he brought it tonight, particularly on the defense end guarding their leading scorer.”

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With South Carolina set to face No. 2 Auburn on Saturday, another imposing figure awaits Murray-Boyles, one who dominated him the last time they met. Johni Broome, one of the best big men in all of college basketball, held Murray-Boyles to four points on 1-of-9 shooting in an 86-55 win over the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament last season.

Broome presents a tough challenge for him and South Carolina yet again, as he’s averaging a career-best 18.7 points and 11.2 rebounds this season. The key for Paris is to do a better job of getting Murray-Boyles in space and letting him attack.

“I think he’s probably best that way,” he said. “It’s a little more difficult to do that when he and Nick are both on the floor. Just there’s not as much space to do that. So we’ve had success to this point when both those guys are in there at throwing the ball into the post and having one or the other make some good moves.”

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