Collin Murray-Boyles, South Carolina trounce Towson
Collin Murray-Boyles recorded 27 points and nine rebounds to lead South Carolina to an 80-53 victory over Towson in nonconference play on Tuesday night at Columbia, S.C.
Jacobi Wright added 16 points and Nick Pringle had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Gamecocks (2-1).
Nendah Tarke had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals and Tyler Tejada added 11 points for Towson (1-2).
Christian May added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, who shot a lowly 29.6 percent from the field and were 5 of 25 (20 percent) from 3-point range.
The Gamecocks connected on 50 percent of their shots, but made just 6 of 21 (28.6 percent) from behind the arc. Murray-Boyles made 9 of 12 from the field and Pringle hit 6 of 8 shots.
South Carolina was up by 17 at the break and the lead reached 20 for the first time in the second half when Wright connected on a trey with 15:37 left.
Towson showed some life by scoring eight of the next 10 points and moved within 55-41 on Tarke's layup with 12:01 left.
However, the Gamecocks answered with eight straight, ending when Wright knocked down two free throws after a technical foul on Towson, making it 63-41 with 8:17 remaining.
A short time later, Murray-Boyles scored four points and Wright hit a trey during a 7-0 burst as the Gamecocks' lead reached 74-49 with 4:23 left.
Arden Conyers drilled a 3-pointer to cap the scoring and give South Carolina its largest lead of the contest.
Murray-Boyles and Pringle each had 10 first-half points as South Carolina took a 43-26 halftime advantage.
The Gamecocks quickly grabbed a 17-7 lead on a 3-pointer by Morris Ugusuk with 11:44 left in the first half.
Wright later scored the final five points of an 8-0 burst as South Carolina opened up a 15-point lead with 7:10 remaining.
Towson was down 34-23 after Tejada buried a 3-pointer with 3:53 left. The Gamecocks responded with nine straight points to move ahead by 20.
