Pirates Upset Bid Denied By Memphis In The Final Minutes

Thursday, January 10

Memphis, TN

9 PM

East Carolina University

Memphis

East Carolina

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith/Memphis Athletics

Pirates Upset Bid Denied By Memphis In The Final Minutes

January 11, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. --- Coming off a 73-71 win over Cincinnati Saturday, ECU was out to prove its win was no fluke and for 38 minutes the Pirates were in line to score their second straight American Athletic Conference victory, but missed shots and turnovers in the final minutes proved to the difference as Memphis came away with a 78-72 victory Thursday night.

"You can't have empty possessions like we had [down the stretch]," ECU Head Coach Joe Dooley said. "Memphis stepped up and made plays. We knew they were going to make a run and we answered most of them, but we didn't answer the key ones here at the end.

"The guys did a nice job of moving the ball and trying to play the right way. I thought our effort was good. You've got to play hard and you've got to play smart. In stretches we didn't play as smart as we needed to."

Jayden Gardner scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Pirates (8-7, 1-2) with Seth LeDay and K.J. Davis each posting a double-double. LeDay finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Davis had 12 points and 12 boards for his first career double-double.

ECU led for more than 27 minutes, but with the game tied at 65 with about eight minutes left, Isaiah Maurice scored on a hook shot to put the Tigers (10-6, 2-1) ahead to stay. Kyron Davenport followed with a dunk and Tyler Harris made a 3-pointer and the Tigers led 72-67 with 4:47 left. The Pirates cut the deficit to 72-70 with 2:31 to go but did not score again until 3 seconds remained.

Harris made four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 16 points and Davenport collected his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Kareem Brewton Jr. added 13 points for the Tigers. Antwann Jones and Maurice chipped in 10 points apiece.

The Pirates led by four, 40-36, at halftime after building a 15-point lead first half lead. A 3-pointer and layup by Davis bookended a 12-1 run that put Pirates ahead 10, 21-11, less than six minutes into the game before the lead grew to 15, 33-18, as Isaac Fleming found LeDay under the basket for a layup.

Fleming scored 12 points and surpassed 1,000 career points in the process, while handing out seven assists.

ECU opened the game by making 12 of its first 19 shot, but closed hitting just 3-of-14 as the Tigers ended the half on 18-7 run, making 6-of-9 with back-to-back 3s to finish the frame.

Memphis shot 30 free throws compared to just 15 by the Pirates and outscored ECU at the foul line 20-12.

The Pirates continue their two-game road trip Sunday at American Athletic Conference preseason favorite UCF Sunday.