Myles Rice Has Big Day With 23, Indiana Knocks off South Carolina, 87-71

No. 16 Indiana has only one true nonconference test on its home floor this year, and the Hoosiers passed it with flying colors on Saturday, beating South Carolina 87-71. Myles Rice led the way with 23 points.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Myles Rice (1) dribbles the ball while South Carolina Gamecocks guard Jacobi Wright (1) defends. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Myles Rice is a Columbia, S.C. native, so he picked a fine time to have his best game as Indiana's point guard on Saturday. He scored 23 points to lead the No. 16-ranked Hoosiers to an 87-71 win over South Carolina in the one true tough test on Indiana's nonconference schedule at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Rice, who came into Saturday averaging just 8.0 points per game, scored 23, including 17 in the first half. It was his first offensive explosion as a Hoosier after scoring 15 points or more 15 times while at Washington State before transferring to Bloomington.

"I thought Myles played great,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson. "He shot the ball well, and it was kind of nice to see Kanaan (Carlyle) make some shots as well. We scored 87 points, and I don't really know how we got there because I just didn't think we played good offense tonight even though he with made shots from the three-point line.''

The Hoosiers shot well from everywhere, actually. They were 51 percent (26-for-51) from the field, 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from three and 27-for-33 (81,8 pecent) from the free throw line.

The Hoosiers (3-0) were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country last year and had only made 12 total in the first two wins over SIU-Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois, so Saturday was much better. Rice was 3-for-4 from deep, Carlyle made two, and Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Trey Galloway all had a made three.

"Hey, I'll take it,'' Woodson said of the improved perimeter shooting. "If we can get much better than that, I'll take it too. Tonight was a step forward in making threes. You know, what did we shoot, 47 percent from the threes? Anybody in college basketball would take that.''

Rice had a big role in that early. He had 17 points in the first half, and was 6-for-7 total from the field. He played 19 minutes and had just one turnover too as the Hoosiers built a double-digit lead quickly.

South Carolina scored the first four points of the game, but then the Hoosiers quickly went on a 17-1 run to pull away. Rice had eight points in the stretch — including two threes — and a nice assist. South Carolina got to with three once, but that was it. The Hoosiers went on another 14-6 run and led by 11 at the half.

There were no runs by either team during the first 15 minutes of the second half, with neither team scoring more than two consecutive baskets. The lead hovered between 11 and 18 points most of the half and got to nine only once, at the 5:32 mark when it was 71-62.

But the Hoosiers made their free throws — all 14 of them — down the stretch to ice it.

South Carolina (2-2) made seven threes in the first half to remain in contention, but connected on just 1-of-9 from deep in the second half. Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who was averaging 21 points a game coming in, was held to just two points and fouled out in only 19 minutes.

"I thought we did a great job on him,'' Woodson said. "We got him in foul trouble, and we refused to let him play, We showed him different looks, and we needed that because he's been on fire lately.''

Last Sunday, Indiana struggled mightily in the first half against Eastern Illinois, trailing by a point at the half before winning by 35. Getting off to a good start was stressed all week.

"It's nice to see,'' Woodson said. "I think when you have a game like (Eastern Illinois) and you go and watch film, and I think film is the best teaching tool in basketball besides practicing and getting it right on the basketball floor.

"They knew coming into tonight's game that they had to be better. I thought they responded.''

Four Hoosiers were in double figures. Aside from Rice's 23, Mgbako had a quiet 17, Reneau had 13 and Carlyle had 12. He had only scored six points total in Indiana's first two games.

There is an amazing anecdote to Rice's career-high scoring game. It happened last year while he was at Washington State. He scored 35 points on Jan. 18, 2024 at Stanford — and new teammate Kanaan Carlyle had a career-high 31 points for the Cardinal.

When asked about that game Saturday, Rice made it clear with a huge smile that they WERE NOT guarding each other.

"Well, at Washington State we played a little bit of a matchup zone, so I wasn't really guarding him and he wasn't guarding me,'' Rice said with a laugh. "He did his thing; I did my thing. I'm happy we're on the same team now.''

Rice knows these offensive explosions can happen from him, and this was just the first in an Indiana uniform.

"Like I said, it varies from game to game. If it's my night, it's my m\night. If it's somebody else's night, it's somebody else's night. Thank God it was my night tonight. I went out and executed and capitalized on the opportunities that I had.''

Indiana went 19-14 last year with subpar guard play, and it cost them a postseason bid. So Woodson and his staff and went out and got Rice, Carlyle and Luke Goode (Illinois) in the transfer portal, and signed five-star wing Bryson Tucker in April. Add a healthy Trey Galloway back into the mix, and the Hoosiers are very happy with their backcourt from top to bottom.

"It's important (to have guards).  I learned a valuable lesson from last season,'' Woodson said. "That was the whole emphasis this summer once we entered the portal, and we were trying to get perimeter guys that could come in here and play — and get enough guys in case someone got hurt.

"We didn't even play (sophomore) Gabe (Cupps) tonight, and he's is still a big piece to what we're doing as well. Anthony (Leal) and Jakai (Newton) were both sitting over there (with knee injuries). So we have enough perimeter players this season, and I feel good about everybody in case someone goes down. I feel good that next guy can step in and make basketball plays for us.''

The Hoosiers are back in action on Thursday when they take on UNC Greensboro at 6:30 p.m. ET at Assembly Hall. The Spartans are 2-1.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• GAME STORY: RICE LEADS INDIANA TO WIN OVER SOUTH CAROLINA: No. 16 Indiana has only one true nonconference test on its home floor this year, and the Hoosiers passed it with flying colors on Saturday, beating South Carolina 87-71. Myles Rice led the way with 23 points. CLICK HERE

• SOUTH CAROLINA STAR STRUGGLES: South Carolina leading scorer Collin Murray-Boyles dealt with foul trouble in Saturday’s 87-71 loss at Indiana and finished with just two points. CLICK HERE

• MGBAKO IS READY TO ROLL: Todd Golden writes about Mackenzie Mgbako's early scoring bursts for 3-0 Indiana. CLICK HERE.

• WATCH RICE TO CARLYLE ALLEY-OOP: The pair of transfer guards connected for a highlight-reel dunk in the first half of Indiana's game against South Carolina. CLICK HERE

• WATCH RICE'S 3: Indiana point guard Myles Rice gave the Hoosiers a 12-point lead over South Carolina with a 3-pointer from the corner. Watch the highlight below. CLICK HERE