Fast start lifts Tulsa

Staff Report
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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 07:15 PM.

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