GREENVILLE — Eighth-ranked Houston made 35 of 57 field goal attempts (61.4 percent) in a 99-65 American Athletic Conference win over East Carolina in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Wednesday night.
The Cougars got 26 points from Corey Davis Jr. in improving to 27-1 overall and 14-1 in the AAC. Fabian White Jr. scored 16, Armoni Brooks tallied 12 and Nate Hinton added 10 points.
Galen Robinson Jr. and Dejon Jarreau had nine assists each for the league leaders.
Tempers flared on the court and in the stands over officiating calls early in the second half.
ECU coach Joe Dooley was ejected after being assessed a pair of technical fouls sandwiched around a technical that was called on Pirates senior guard Isaac Fleming.
Sophomore guard Sean Williams was booted less than a minute later after he was whistled for a flagrant offense after committing a hard foul on White and subsequently flinging the ball at the Houston player.
During the sequence an ECU fan was escorted out of the arena by security personnel after objects were thrown toward the court from the stands.
Dooley was still irate after the game and said it was the first time in his coaching career he had been ejected.
Davis sank a 3 pointer with 14:18 left in the first half to put Houston ahead to stay at 14-11 and the Cougars expanded the lead to 45-31 at intermission.
Houston, which topped ECU 94-50 at home on Jan. 23, made 13 of 28 from beyond the arc, 46.4 percent.
Seth LeDay led ECU with 17 points. Jayden Gardner contributed 14 points and paced the Pirates in rebounding with six. Isaac Fleming had 13 points and seven assists.
K.J. Davis and Dimitri Spasojevic finshed with six points apiece for ECU (10-17, 3-12).
The Pirates play at Tulsa on Sunday at 4 p.m. The Golden Hurricane won 77-73 in overtime on Feb. 17 in Greenville. Tulsa (16-12, 6-9) hosts Tulane on Thursday before taking on ECU.
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