GREENVILLE — The fun didn’t last long for the East Carolina fans among a crowd of 5,539 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Thursday night, but there was definitely some early excitement against No. 5 Wichita State.
The Pirates led the Shockers 14-9 with 12 minutes left in the first half and the building was rocking.
Then Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall started earning his annual salary, reported to be $3.3 million, and the Shockers became shock proof, pulling away to a 95-60 win.
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Knowing the brevity of the ECU bench due to injuries that have sidelined Aaron Jackson and Justin Whatley, Marshall ordered extended pressure on defense. The ploy wasn’t so much designed to produce turnovers as it was to wear down the depth-shy Pirates.
“In the ‘Art of War,’ when you have the numbers and higher ground . . . , ” Marshall said.
The Shockers, who got points from 11 players, definitely had more troops. The visitors used 15 players while eight got on the court for the Pirates.
“I was trying to keep our guys fresh and wear East Carolina down,” Marshall said. “We usually don’t press like that the whole game.”
The Shockers were amazingly efficient with 32 assists on 38 field goals. Wichita State made 21 of 30 field goal attempts in the second half, a torrid 70 percent.
Landry Shamet had 11 assists to go with 11 points and got the most minutes for the gold-clad Shockers (29).
Shaquille Morris had a team-high 12 points in just 14 minutes as Marshall utilized his bench like a revolving door. Austin Reaves contributed six assists in 17 minutes.
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From the 14-9 deficit, Wichita State (14-2, 4-0 AAC) achieved separation with a 15-0 run. ECU walk-on Justice Obasohan snapped the streak with a jumper.
Obasohan was a bright spot for ECU with nine points.
“He’s been working his tail off in practice,” said Pirate senior B.J. Tyson, who led all scorers with 16. “He’ll do something in practice and we’ll be like saying to Coach (Michael) Perry, ‘Give him more minutes.'”
Kentrell Barkley had 16 points as ECU slipped to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in the league. Freshman Dimitri Spasojevic had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.
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Shawn Williams and Isaac Fleming scored five points each. Fleming did not start, which Perry indicated was a disciplinary move.
“We need to get some people healthy,” Perry said. “Right now it’s next man up and Justice was that man tonight.”
In the bigger picture, Perry said the Pirates must play better for longer periods.
“We’ve seen the elite of the elite in this league,” Perry said. “We’ll be a better team for that experience. We saw we could play with them for 10 of 11 minutes. We’ve got to sustain our play for a longer time against the elite teams.”
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The atmosphere was reminiscent of home wins over Louisville, Marquette, Memphis and Connecticut from nights gone by.
“The crowd was tremendous,” Perry said. “It jump-started our guys.”
ECU will regroup for a 2 p.m. contest on Sunday against Houston, which hit a league record 18 shots from behind the arc in a 104-71 win over visiting Tulsa on Thursday night.
Rob Gray scored 34 points as the Cougars improved to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the AAC. Houston also has been through the Wichita State meat grinder, losing 81-63 on the road Jan. 4.
POSTGAME AUDIO: MICHAEL PERRY, B.J. TYSON, JUSTICE OBASOHAN, GREGG MARSHALL…