PHILADELPHIA — East Carolina had never won at Temple, but exceptional shooting sent the Pirates to a 73-62 American Athletic Conference victory at the Liacouras Center on Wednesday night.
ECU made 27 of 50 field goal attempts (54 percent), including nine of 21 from beyond the arc (42.9 percent) and hit 10 of 11 free throws (90.9 percent).
“The approach of the team and their concentration was really strong,” said Pirates coach Mike Schwartz on the ECU radio network. “We can build on it.”
The Pirates (9-7, 2-1 AAC) host Southern Methodist (10-5, 1-1) on Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN+).
ECU made the trip on Monday because of severe weather in the forecast for Tuesday and worked out at the game site on Tuesday night.
A sparse crowd of 2,003 saw the Owls (8-8, 1-2) forge a 27-21 lead with 6:08 left in the first half. The Pirates surged to a 33-31 advantage at the break.
ECU went on 9-0 run to extend the margin to 47-35 on a three by LSU transfer Cam Hayes with 15:22 to go.
R.J. Felton hit eight of 10 from the floor to lead all scorers with 20 points. Ezra Ausar contributed 18 points and six rebounds as the overall board battle ended in a tie at 30.
Brandon Johnson had 15 points and nine rebounds for ECU. Hayes finished with nine points. Bobby Pettiford Jr. had seven points and six assists.
Kalib LaCount and Jaden Walker added two points each.
Temple, which was limited to 20 of 55 field goal shooting (36.4 percent), was led by 15 points from Jordan Riley. Jahlil White had 13 points for the Owls and Shane Dezonie tallied 11.
The Pirates had 10 turnovers to eight for the hosts.
ECU improved to 1-7 on the road against Temple.
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