WATCH: South Carolina star Chloe Kitts applauds BF Collin Murray-Boyles after fouling out in intense loss vs Arkansas

South Carolina star Chloe Kitts applauded her boyfriend, Collin Murray-Boyles, after his double-double in the Gamecocks’ narrow 72-68 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. Despite Murray-Boyles’ strong two-way performance, South Carolina fell short at Bridgestone Arena as Arkansas ended a three-game losing streak against them.

Kitts on the other hand, has been on a roll with the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball this season, as they won the SEC Tournament Championship a few days ago. In contrast, Murray-Boyles has been the bright spot in an otherwise challenging season for the men’s team.

Kitts joined the crowd at Bridgestone Arena in giving her partner a standing ovation as he walked off the court with 2.3 seconds left, during Arkansas’ free-throw attempt.

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Unfortunately for Murray-Boyles, the Gamecocks men’s team might miss the NCAA Tournament after its loss, as they need to be one of the 16 teams that are granted exemptions to qualify. On the other hand, the Gamecocks’ female team has already sealed a spot and will hope to leave March Madness with a title.

Murray-Boyles goes off again, but Gamecocks fail to recover after poor first half

The South Carolina Gamecocks men’s basketball team was off in the first half as they shot 38.5% from the field, while the Arkansas Razorbacks shot 54.8%. Arkansas even led by as much as 20 at the start of the second half after it entered halftime with a 17-point lead. However, South Carolina soon picked up the pace, out-scoring the Razorbacks 26-7 over the next 13 minutes to cut its deficit and made it a 1-point game with 4:20 left on the clock.

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After that, both teams failed to score until 2:37, when D.J. Wagner hit a 3-pointer to make it 64-61 to the Razorbacks. Unfortunately for South Carolina, they failed to sustain their second-half push and had to settle for the 72-68 loss.

Sophomore guard, Murray-Boyles, who was named Associated Press Second Team All-SEC on Tuesday, performed above his season average for the Gamecocks as he had a double-double after producing 20 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.

Murray-Boyles led all scorers on the night. His teammates Jamarii Thomas and Jacobi Wright dropped 16 and 13 respectively. Meanwhile, Trevon Brazile, who led all scorers for Arkansas, had 16 points and seven assists. Johnell Davis and Dajuan Wagner Jr. had 14 and 13 each.