Fast start lifts Tulsa
Staff Report
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
TULSA, OK — East Carolina struggled
early at Tulsa on Tuesday night and absorbed a 55-43 American Athletic
Conference loss.
The Pirates made just six of 33 field
goal attempts in the first half (18.2 percent) and committed 12
turnovers in the first 20 minutes to trail 37-14 at the break.
"We missed a lot of layups," noted
ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "We made some adjustments at half to keep them from
scoring as easily down low against our zone. ... They're a good team.
They've beaten Oklahoma State and Wichita State here."
The Pirates (8-7, 0-2 AAC) outscored
the Golden Hurricane 29-18 in the second half.
ECU was 0-for-13 behind the arc
before Kentrell Barkley's 3-pointer with 5:55 remaining cut Tulsa's lead
to 51-38.
Barkley led the Pirates offensively
with 10 points. Kanu Aja played 26 minutes with post player Mike Zangari
out with a shoulder ailment. Aja had nine points and 11 rebounds.
The Pirates' frontcourt was already
thin with the losses of Marshall Guilmette and Deng Riak.
Tulsa played without senior guard
James Woodard, who was averaging 15.9 points. The Golden Hurricane came
into the contest averaging 74.9 points as a team.
Caleb White and Clarence Williams had
six rebounds each as Tulsa held a narrow 43-42 advantage on the boards.
Michel Nzege was limited to 11
minutes with four fouls.
Point guards Prince Williams, Lance
Tejada and Charles Foster combined for just five points and three
assists.
"The point guard is like the
quarterback," Lebo said. "We've got to get better play there. Our
expectations are higher for that position."
Tulsa (9-6, 1-2) was led by Rashad
Smith with 20 points and nine rebounds. Smith's jumper 14 seconds into
the game put the hosts ahead to stay.
ECU made 11 of 24 shots from the
field in the second half for 45.8 percent.
Tulsa's biggest lead was 43-19 with
14:17 to go on a dunk by D'Andre Wright.
The Golden Hurricane plays at ECU on
Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.
The Pirates visit Temple on Saturday
for a 9 p.m. tipoff.
PAGE UPDATED
01/06/16 02:13 AM.
Copyright © Bonesville.net. All rights rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any fashion. Information from
Bonesville staff members, East Carolina University, Conference USA
and other sources was used in composing and/or compiling the articles
and data on this site. This site is editorially independent and is not
affiliated with East Carolina University or Conference USA. View
Bonesville.net's
privacy policy. For advertising or
other information, e-mail
editor@bonesville.net.
*You are viewing an
alpha version of Bonesville Mobile. You may view this trial version
of Bonesville Mobile at no charge. After alpha and beta testing are
completed, a subscription version of Bonesville Mobile will be
available at a nominal price. Bonesville Mobile incorporates minimal
and non-obtrusive advertising. |