East Carolina will take on South Florida for the second time this season when the Bulls come to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff (ESPN+).
The Pirates opened play in the American Athletic Conference on Dec. 31 with a 75-69 loss to USF in Tampa.
The circumstances going into the second meeting are different for ECU. Going into the New Year’s Eve matchup, the Pirates were coming off a disappointing 84-79 loss at home to Gardner-Webb.
This time around, ECU has the momentum of road wins over Wichita State and Tulsa. Those narrow triumphs got the Pirates to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the AAC, teaching Coach Mike Schwartz’s club something about the value of toughness.
Schwartz said ECU came out of the halftime break against the Golden Hurricane focused on putting forth the necessary physicality around the basket.
“There was a physicality and a toughness about us in the second half,” Shwartz said in his postgame comments on the Pirate radio network. “There was a resiliency to create a (21-point) swing.”
ECU trailed by as many as nine points in the first half and was down, 40-33, at the break.
The Pirates went from trailing by 12 (46-34, 17:04) to up nine (83-74, :41, OT).
ECU got a career-high 27 points from Temple transfer Jordan Riley and R.J. Felton added 24.
Felton’s three with 17 seconds left in regulation gave the Pirates a 69-67 lead at Tulsa before the Golden Hurricane was able to extend the game with tying free throws from Dwon Odom with two seconds to go.
Felton’s three at the buzzer gave ECU a 75-72 win at Wichita State.
“We stayed calm and kept our heads up,” said Riley on dealing with the deficit at Tulsa. “We had been in situations like this before. … We’ve all got heart, even though we came out a little soft. We keep our head up and just keep going.”
Productive trip home
Reid Cason, 6 feet, 10 inch freshman from Kingston, OK, had a memorable trip to his home state on Tuesday at Tulsa.
He played 13 minutes. He had two points. one rebound and blocked two shots.
“How about Reid Cason coming home to Oklahoma and playing a huge factor,” Schwartz said.
First meeting
Riley had 20 points and seven rebounds against USF in Tampa when the Pirates were outshot from the field,
ECU was 22 for 62 (35.5 percent) overall from the floor and three of 19 from beyond the arc (15.8 percent) while the hosts were 26 of 57 (45.6 percent) and seven of 20 from three (35 percent).
The Pirates were better at the free throw line, going 22 of 27 (81.5 percent) compared to 16 of 20 for USF (80 percent).
C.J. Hunter scored 16 at South Florida and Felton tallied 13.
Felton had eight rebounds while Hunter and Riley snared seven each as the Pirates led, 36-33, on the boards.
Cam Hayes led ECU in assists with four.
Kobe Knox came off the bench to pace the Bulls with 18 points on seven of eight field goal shooting, including three of three on 3-pointers.
The Bulls led, 34-25, at the half. ECU was down, 56-37, before closing the gap to five points down the stretch.
Coach passes
The Bulls were dealt a stunning blow just 11 days before the season opener when Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away on Oct. 24.
The 43-year old Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he passed away due to complications.
Abdur-Rahim was the AAC Coach of the Year in 2023-24. The Bulls were 25-8, winning their first regular-season conference championship and moving as high as No. 24 in the national rankings.
The Bulls are 10-9 overall and 3-3 in the AAC under interim coach Ben Fletcher.
Loss at Charlotte
USF sustained a 69-61 loss at Charlotte on Wednesday night as Nik Graves had 19 points and eight rebounds for the 49ers (8-12, 1-6 AAC).
The Bulls were led by Jayden Reid with 14 points. Brandon Stroud, Jamille Reynolds, C.J. Brown and Jimmie Williams added nine points each.
Charlotte had a 36-29 rebounding advantage but had more turnovers, 15-8.
The Bulls made just five of 27 from beyond the arc (18.5 percent).
Recent history
USF took two wins over ECU during the 2023-24 season. The Bulls were 71-60 winners in Greenville on Jan. 31 as the Pirates made just 24 of 61 field goal attempts (39.3 percent). Gelton was four for 17 in leading ECU with 13 points.
The teams met again in the AAC Tournament in Fort Worth. The Pirates were coming off an 84-79 win over Tulsa in the first round while the Bulls were rested from a bye. USF had 14 threes in an 81-59 win that finished the season for ECU at 15-18.
The Bulls were knocked out of the AAC Tournament with a 92-83 semifinal loss to Alabama Birmingham.
USF went to the NIT last season, losing at home to Virginia Commonwealth, 70-65, in the second round.
South Florida leads the series with the Pirates, 17-12. The teams are 7-7 in games played in Greenville.
Schedule break
After playing the Bulls on Saturday, the Pirates will have a full week before returning to action at Temple on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).
ECU topped the Owls, 80-79, in Greenville on Jan, 8, as Jayshayne Woodard scored on a drive with 10 seconds to go.
Temple (12-7, 4-2 AAC) visits Texas San Antonio on Saturday and hosts Charlotte on Wednesday prior to its second matchup with ECU.
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