GREENVILLE — Jayden Gardner scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the second half as East Carolina evened its American Athletic Conference record at 1-1 with a 68-58 win over Tulane in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Tuesday afternoon.
The Pirates are 7-1 overall going into an AAC contest at Wichita State on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
Brandon Suggs had 14 points for ECU and J.J. Miles, coming back from a leg injury, added 13 points.
“Our defense was good early and we got a little bit of rhythm on offense to start the second half,” said Pirates coach Joe Dooley.
ECU led 32-25 at the half after holding the Green Wave (5-2, 0-2 AAC) to 30.8 field goal shooting (8 for 26) in the first 20 minutes. The Pirates had their largest lead at 49-30 with 13:26 left.
Gardner also had a game-high 10 rebounds, including seven after intermission as ECU had a 38-31 advantage on the boards.
“I’m a patient guy,” Gardner said. “I’m an unselfish guy. The big thing is we were winning and my half was the second half.”
Tremont Robinson-White and Miles each had four assists.
Dooley plans to give the team several days off for Christmas.
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