East Carolina University
8-10, 1-4AAC
SMU
14-4, 5-1AAC
East Carolina Falls to SMU, 77-54
January 17, 2015 | Men's Basketball
From wire and staff reports
DALLAS -- Nic Moore led five players in double figures, scoring 14 points with six assists as SMU defeated East Carolina 77-54 on Saturday.
Markus Kennedy added 12 points for the Mustangs (14-4, 5-1 American Conference). Ben Moore and Ryan Manuel had 11 points apiece and Sterling Brown chipped in 10. The team sank 58.8 percent from the field overall.
A Brown 3-pointer capped a 13-6 SMU run to start the first period and the Mustangs led 34-22 at halftime.
"I thought we did some good things in the first half," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "Our half court defense was pretty good with the zone. Where they hurt us in the first half was points off turnovers."
The Mustangs took advantage of 10 ECU miscues and turned them into 14 points, while shooting 57.9 percent overall from the field. The Pirates connected on just 35 percent of its opening half attempts."
SMU, which averaged just four made 3s per game entering the contest, sank five of 11 in the first half. It only made one in the second half, but used its muscle to outscore ECU in the paint 28-6.
SMU started off the second half with an 11-2 run to go up 45-24 and a Ben Moore jumper with 7:14 left gave the Mustangs their biggest lead, 62-32.
"We didn't make shots when we needed to, especially early in the second half," Lebo said. "We made some late, but the game was well out of reach at that point.
Four 3-pointers by East Carolina's Terry Whisnant -- and another by Caleb White -- in the final seven minutes did little to erase the Pirates' deficit.
Whisnant led the Pirates (8-10, 1-4) with 24 points, burying a career-best six 3-pointers. White added 14 points.
"[Caleb] and Terry were really the only ones who could score for us out there," Lebo stated. "I thought Michele battled awful hard too. He was solid with eight points and three rebounds. They were the bright spots for us."
SMU was credited with 21 assists on 30 made field goals, but ECU was equally efficient sharing the basketball with 13 assists on 19 makes.
The Pirates return to action Saturday, Jan. 24 against Tulsa. The game is scheduled fir a noon tip-off inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
