Collin Murray-Boyles breaks out with 31-point outing vs. Vanderbilt

South Carolina faced a four-point halftime deficit against Vanderbilt on Saturday and went to work pounding the paint with big man Collin Murray-Boyles in the second half, resulting in a 75-60 win.

Murray-Boyles was outstanding, scoring 31 points on just 17 shots.

“Right after the last game, last morning I just got in the gym,” Murray-Boyles said on the SEC Network after the game. “In practice just kept building on it, and my teammates are giving me the confidence just to keep attacking and keep staying aggressive, so I did that today.”

The talented big man went to work by scoring on 14 of his 17 field goal attempts, nearly automatic in the paint. He set the tone, too.

In the second half he took a ball on the left side of the baseline, backed his way into one defender, then spun and threw down a monster dunk over the arriving help-side defender.

He was a man on a mission.

“We was down four at half and I was just like, ‘We not losing this game, man,'” Collin Murray-Boyles said. “We couldn’t lose this game. This was a statement game. Every game is a statement game from now on. So just playing as hard as I could. I just came out with that mentality to just kill and just be aggressive. Shoot, we wasn’t hitting that many threes, we was 1-for-11 at half, so just getting it inside and making a play inside.”

Collin Murray-Boyles has been on a tear in the last week.

After scoring in double figures just three times in his first 15 games of the season, he has scored in double figures in each of the last three games. He’s averaging 21.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in that stretch.

What’s remarkable is that Murray-Boyles is doing it after having his offseason cut short due to mono. He was weakened and drained, and it took time to get back.

“I give credit to Scott (Greenawalt), our trainer,” he said. “He really got me big in there, all that running we did it just got me to the point where I can just fight through all the adversity, fight through all the hands in the paint and just make a play.”

He also credited his teammates for keeping his spirits high.

“Just building our confidence, keep working,” Collin Murray-Boyles said. “I worked out so much when I was off. Then my teammates obviously keep encouraging me, keep telling me to go, telling me to work, telling me what to do. All the vets just telling me how I could get back to how I was, and then just also giving me pointers just so I could be the best I could be.”

Turns out his best is pretty darned good.