By Al Myatt
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MURFREESBORO, TN — East Carolina had offensive balance but an early deficit and a double-double by Shawn Jones of Middle Tennessee State were too much to overcome in an 84-67 Conference USA loss for the Pirates on Thursday night.

Jones had 27 points and 11 rebounds as the Blue Raiders went ahead to stay at 8-5 on a 3-pointer by Kerry Hammonds with 16:54 left in the first half.

Guards Tweety Knight and Hammonds had 14 and 13 points respectively in the win. Hammonds had six assists.

MTSU (14-7, 4-2 C-USA) expanded its lead to 41-22 by halftime before a supportive crowd of 4,411 at the Murphy Center.

The Pirates (11-10, 0-6) got no closer than 13 points in the second half although five players reached double figures in scoring.

The Blue Raiders made 30 of 57 field goal attempts for 52.6 percent.

Freshman Caleb White paced ECU with 18 points. Paris Roberts-Campbell had 13 points in the setback. Akeem Richmond and Prince Williams added 12 points each. Richmond dropped four of 12 shots from behind the arc.

Michael Zangari had 10 points in 21 minutes before picking up his fifth foul. Zangari, Richmond and freshman Brandan Stith had five rebounds each for ECU.

The Pirates swap opponents with travel partner Old Dominion for a 3 p.m. tipoff at UAB on Saturday. The Blazers topped the Monarchs 75-66 Thursday night as all six home teams won in C-USA play.