ORLANDO — Central Florida outscored East Carolina 24-12 over the last 10 minutes of the first half and pulled away to a 94-62 American Athletic Conference win on Sunday.
The Pirates finished the regular season 11-20 overall and 5-13 in the AAC. The Knights (16-14, 7-11) were led by 23 points from Darin Green Jr. on 9-for-13 shooting from the field, including 5-for-8 beyond the arc.
ECU got 20 points and three assists from freshman guard Tristen Newton, who was 7-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the line.
The Pirates led 12-10 with 14:23 left in the first half on a layup by Newton. UCF went ahead to stay at 13-12 with 13:36 left in the first half on a three by Dazon Ingram.
The Knights made 33 of 61 field goal attempts for 54.1 percent and had a 27-4 command in bench scoring. UCF had a 33-30 rebounding advantage and fewer turnovers, 9-16.
The Knights made 15 of 29 tries from beyond the arc for 51.7 percent.
Jayden Gardner finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists for ECU. J.J. Miles had 13 points and six rebounds in the setback. Charles Coleman had eight points and seven rebounds.
Matt Milon had 16 points for UCF. Collin Smith totaled 12 points and eight rebounds. Ingam added 10 points and seven assists.
The Pirates had not played since an 84-63 home loss to Connecticut on Feb. 29.
“I don’t know what happened these last two games with our energy level,” said ECU coach Joe Dooley. “I don’t know if we’ve hit a wall. It was very, very disappointing today. Our lack of competitiveness really bothers me.”
The Pirates will be the No. 11 seed for the AAC Tournament, which starts Thursday in Fort Worth, TX.
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