South Carolina ousts Arkansas with strong second half

Collin Murray-Boyles scored 24 points on 11-for-15 shooting and No. 15 South Carolina pulled away for an 80-66 win over Arkansas on Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

B.J. Mack added 19 points and nine rebounds for No. 5 seed South Carolina (26-6), which earned its fourth win in its past five games. Ta'Lon Cooper added 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting.

The Gamecocks will play No. 4 seed Auburn in the quarterfinals Friday.

Khalif Battle scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead No. 12 seed Arkansas (16-17). Makhi Mitchell contributed 15 points on 7-for-11 points off the bench for the Razorbacks, who fell short one day after outlasting No. 13 seed Vanderbilt for an overtime win.

South Carolina posted a 33-26 advantage in rebounds and had a 52-38 edge in points in the paint.

Arkansas committed 14 turnovers, compared with eight for South Carolina. That helped the Gamecocks gain a 17-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

South Carolina held a 38-35 lead at the half.

Arkansas gained the early edge as it sprinted to an 11-3 lead in the first four minutes. Trevon Brazile opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Battle finished the run with five straight points thanks to a layup and a free throw followed by another layup.

The Gamecocks found their footing and grabbed a 17-15 lead with 10:53 left in the half. Myles Stute made a 3-pointer off an assist from Mack to give South Carolina the lead.

Meechie Johnson made a layup in the final seconds to finish the first-half scoring for the Gamecocks.

In the second half, South Carolina took control. They opened the period on a 10-0 run thanks to two baskets by Murray-Boyles, two baskets by Cooper and a basket by Zachary Davis.

The Gamecocks increased their lead to 21 with 2:11 to play. Mack drained a 3-pointer off a pass from Johnson to make it 79-58 before South Carolina closed it out.