East Carolina University
South Carolina State
East Carolina Defeats South Carolina State, 98-71
December 22, 2015 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- East Carolina shot a season-high 57.7 (30-52) percent from the field and tied an American Athletic Conference record with 16 3-pointers Tuesday en route to a 98-71 win over South Carolina State for its 12th consecutive non-conference home win.
"I'd like to bottle that shooting up and be able to pour it out when I need it," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "We really obviously shot the ball well tonight and were very aggressive offensively. You look down at the half and we're up 27 points and you look at their numbers and they weren't awful.
"We got a terrific start to the game offensively. Got out in transition, had a great start and really the first 10 minutes of the game was the difference."
Caleb White had a game-high 21 points and was 7 of 10 from the field with five 3-pointers along with a season-high with five assists for the Pirates, who are 7-0 at home this season. B.J. Tyson scored 20 points, all in the first half, on 7-of-9 shooting with four 3-pointers and Charles Foster chipped in a career-best 15 points, making five 3-pointers.
White entered the game 13 points shy of becoming the 27th player in ECU history to score 1,000 points and with a 1:13 left in the first half he made two free throws to join the exclusive club.
After missing their first two shots, the Pirates (8-5) made seven in a row to take a 21-4 lead less than six minutes into the game. SC State (5-8) scored the first two points, but the next 13 belonged to East Carolina bookended by a 3-pointer and dunk from White.
The Pirates then missed their next two shots before making five in a row to start 12 of 16 shooting and finished the first half 17 of 25 (.680) from the field, including 9 of 14 (.643) outside the arc with Tyson nailing all of his 3-pointers before intermission as ECU led 58-31.
The Pirates' exceptional shooting wasn't limited to the field, they also excelled at the free throw line making 15 of 16 in the first half.
Ten players took the court for ECU in the first 20 minutes and only player missed more than one shot.
White opened the second half with a 3 to give ECU its first 30-point lead of the game, which ballooned at 33, 88-55, with 8:27 to play. It's lead never dipped under 28 points until DouDou Gueye scored the game's final basket with three seconds to play.
East Carolina finished with a season-high 24 assists on 30 made field goals and out-rebounded the Bulldogs by 18 (40-22).
Gabe McCray scored 15 points to lead South Carolina State.
