Pirates' Furious Comeback Falls Short At UCF

Tuesday, January 3

Orlando, FL

7:15 p.m.

East Carolina University

9-7, 1-2AAC

UCF

12-3, 3-0AAC

East Carolina

UCF

Photo by: Keith Lucas

January 03, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --- B.J. Taylor had 19 points, Chad Brown added 11 in as many minutes and UCF beat East Carolina 48-45 on Tuesday night.

Brown, who made 4 of 4 from the field, has three double-digit scoring games in the last four after recording just one in the first 41 games of his college career. Matt Williams scored 13 and A.J. Davis tied a career-high with 15 rebounds.

Brown's jumper capped a 13-2 run that made it 20-9 and the Knights led the rest of the way, despite committing a season-high tying 20 turnovers. UCF (12-3, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) set season lows for field goals made (12), 3-pointers made (three), field-goal percentage (26.1) and 3-point field-goal percentage (17.6) but hit 21 of 28 free throws.

East Carolina (9-7, 1-2), which hit just 6 of 16 foul shots, shot 26.7 percent from the field and was out-rebounded 46-38. Kentrell Barkley scored 16, including a career-high four 3s, and grabbed nine rebounds for the Pirates.

IT'S A GAME OF RUNS

ECU scored the game's first seven points and kept UCF off the scoreboard for the first 7:18. White and Barkley each made a 3 and Elijah Hughes knocked home a free throw to open the scoring.
UCF then scored six unanswered before Tyson's jumper ended a nearly three minute scoring drought.
The Knights followed with 14 consecutive points as ECU went scoreless for 7:26 and took a 20-9 lead. Taylor and Williams each scored five points during the streak. Barkley's layup ended the Knight's run and ECU outscored UCF 6-3 in the final 3:27 of the half.
Down by seven, ECU had its deficit doubled in a span of 2:32 as UCF scored seven straight points to take a 34-20 lead.
ECU trailed by 17, 39-22, with 6:02 to play and scored 13 unanswered points to pull within four, 39-35, with 2:12 to play.
The Pirates got within two on three occasions, but UCF always had an answer. Matt Williams made 1-of-2 free throws with seven seconds left, leaving the door open for the Pirates. However, Tyson's game-tying 3 went in and out as the final horn sounded.

THE FINAL SIX MINUTES

ECU outscored UCF 23-9 in the final six minutes, making 8-of-12 field goals and 5-of-7 outside the arc. Barkley and Tyson each scored nine points in the final six minutes as Barkley made 3-of-4 3-point attempts and Tyson dropped in 2-of-3 from outside the arc.
The Pirates held the Knights to 1-of-6 shooting in the final six minutes and forced four turnovers.
ECU didn't allow UCF to get an offensive rebound and posted an 8-5 advantage on the glass.
ECU collected three steals that led to six points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Barkley scored double figures and led East Carolina in scoring for the third time in the last four games. His 16 points were his most since scoring 20 against Mercer (Nov. 25, 2016).
Andre Washington blocked four shots to bring his season total to 45 and raising his single-season average to 2.8 blocks per game.
Deng Riak made his first career start and ECU used its fourth different starting lineup of the year.
ECU posted double digit steals for the second time this season, finishing with 10. They collected a season-high 11 against USF two games ago.
The Pirates forced a season-high 20 turnovers. The last time they forced 20 miscues was against Tulane last year in a triple overtime defeat as the Green Wave gave the ball away 20 times.
East Carolina held UCF 7-foot-6 center scoreless for the first time this season. He entered the game as the NCAA leader in field goal percentage at 84.4 percent, but was 0-of-6 from the field.

NEXT TIP-OFF

The Pirates return to action Saturday, Jan. 9, at 12 noon against Temple at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. The game will be televised by the American Sports Network and can be seen throughout eastern North Carolina on MyWITN 7.2 as well as streamed on ESPN3.