East Carolina University
11-13,4-7AAC
Memphis
14-10,6-5AAC
Men's Basketball Defeats Memphis, 64-53
February 10, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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Game Highlights
From wire and staff reports
GREENVILLE, N.C. - B.J. Tyson scored 24 points - 20 points in the second half - to help East Carolina rally to beat in Memphis 64-53 on Tuesday night.
The Pirates (11-13, 4-7 American Athletic Conference) won for the third time in the last four games and moved into a tie for seventh-place in The American. Memphis lost for the third time in four games.
In the last 10 days, East Carolina has beaten Cincinnati and Memphis, both of whom made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
Caleb White added 11 points for the Pirates, who shot 66.7 percent in the second half after being held to 26.9 percent in the first half and trailing 25-21 at halftime.
"Defense kept us in the first half and as poor as we shot it we were only down four,"ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "I thought we maintained our defensive intensity second half."
Memphis doubled its halftime lead in the first two minutes following intermission, then the Pirates' defense stiffened and Tyson scored eight straight points to tie the game at 29-all. Then Antonio Robinson stole the ball Avery Watson at midcourt and dished out to Terry Whisnant for the go-ahead dunk.
The lead changed hands five times until Paris Roberts-Campbell put East Carolina ahead to stay, 50-49, with 5:23 to play.
Tyson put the Pirates up 56-50 with 2:47 left, sparking a 14-4 run that saw East Carolina lead 62-53 with 55 seconds left, their largest lead of the game. Robinson, Whisnant and White combined to go 6 of 6 at the free throw line in the final 1:07 to ensure the win.
"Our team didn't panic tonight," Lebo said. "We knew it was a 40-minute game and we had confidence that we would come out in the second half and overcome the adversity from the first half. That's what we've been trying to preach to the about being mentally tough. I thought we showed that today, especially in the second half."
The Pirates outscored Memphis in the paint, 34-24, after being outscored, 34-12, by the Tigers at the FedExForum two weeks ago.
Shaq Goodwin and Nick King scored 13 apiece for Memphis (14-10, 6-5), and Goodwin grabbed 12 rebounds as the Tigers were without leading scorer Austin Nichols., who suffered an ankle injury in Saturday's loss to Temple.
