South Carolina basketball rises into top 15, Collin Murray-Boyles named SEC freshman of the week

South Carolina basketball is back to being a top 15 team.

Moving up from No. 15 in last week's AP Poll, the Gamecocks received its highest ranking since the 1997-98 season this week at No. 11, according to Sports-Reference. South Carolina ranked as high as fifth in 1997-98 and finished at No. 14.

It is just the seventh time in program history that South Carolina has been ranked within the top 15.

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South Carolina currently sits atop the SEC standings tied with Alabama at 21-3, 9-2 SEC after sweeping both games last week against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

Lamont Paris' squad — which has won seven-straight conference games for the first time since 1996-97 — currently holds NCAA Tournament seeding projections of a three-seed and a five-seed in CBS Sports' Jerry Palm's and ESPN's Joe Lunardi's latest projections respectively.

South Carolina, who also came in at No. 11 in the USA Today coaches' poll, takes on Auburn Wednesday on the road at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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Collin Murray-Boyles earns SEC Freshman of the Week honors

Freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles was tabbed with SEC Freshman of the Week honors after averaging 23.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while hitting 22-of-28 shots from the floor in two games this past week for the Gamecocks.

In South Carolina's 15-point win over Vanderbilt, Murray-Boyles became the first SEC freshman since former Arkansas standout Bobby Portis to score 30 or more points with 13 or more made field goals while shooting above 80%. On top of his 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting, Murray-Boyles stuffed the stat sheet as he finished with seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in the win as well.

The Columbia, South Carolina native is the first Gamecock to win the conference's weekly freshman honor since GG Jackson last season.

Murray-Boyles is averaging 7.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 games this season.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina basketball breaks into top 15, highest since 1997-98