GREENVILLE — East Carolina played without sophomore point guard Javon Small in an 81-70 American Athletic Conference loss to South Florida in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Sunday.
Small leads the Pirates in scoring with 15.8 points per game and assists (5.6). He is second on the team in steals with 1.2 and third in rebounding (4.8).
He also tops ECU in minutes played with 34.7 per game.
Small watched from the sideline due to a knee injury sustained late in an 83-55 loss at Cincinnati on Jan. 11. Small saw the Bulls make a decisive 11-0 run in the second half on the way to their first league win.
The Pirates led 43-42 with 15:20 left after a jumper in the paint by Quentin Diboundje. The Bulls scored the next 11 points as Tyler Harris connected three times from beyond the arc.
Harris had a game-high 24 points on eight of 13 field goal shooting, including five of eight from long distance. He added four assists.
Russel Tchewa contributed 20 points and seven rebounds for USF (8-10, 1-4 AAC). Sam Hines Jr. had 11 rebounds and four steals for the Bulls.
Diboundje tallied 18 points to lead ECU (10-9, 1-5). Brandon Johnson added 16 points and 12 rebounds. R.J. Felton scored 13 points and freshman guard Kailb LaCount netted 11 points with five assists.
Ludgy Debaut contributed six points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates.
ECU travels to Temple for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday in an AAC matchup on ESPN+. The Owls (10-9, 4-2) took a 59-57 win over ECU in Greenville on Dec. 28.
Memphis topped Temple, 61-59, on Sunday as Kendric Davis dropped a 17-footer at the buzzer for the Tigers.
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