Pirates Hold Off Wichita State, 68-55

Thursday, February 15

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

13-12,6-6AAC

Wichita State

10-15,2-10AAC

Wichita St.

East Carolina

February 15, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Brandon Johnson scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as East Carolina defeated Wichita State 68-55 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Thursday evening.

RJ Felton added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Pirates (13-12, 6-6 AAC) who raced out to a 19-point lead before holding off a late second half rally from the Shockers. Bobby Pettiford Jr. added eight points and four assists off the bench and Cam Hayes provided seven points.

Colby Rogers led Wichita State (10-15, 2-10 AAC) with 16 points.

ECU would start off the game the same way they did in San Antonio as Johnson buried a deep three to give the Pirates the first points of the night. The Shockers would hold the lead for four minutes before the Pirates used a 16-2 explosion to go ahead 27-19 with 7:02 remaining and forced a Shocker timeout. ECU would take a 38-27 lead at the break due in large part to shooting a season-high 59 percent from the floor in the first half.

The Pirates would take their largest lead of the night after a Pettiford Jr. jumper made it 56-37 with 9:45 to go in the game. Wichita State would slowly chip away at the deficit, holding the Pirates without a field goal for nearly five minutes and going on a 7-0 run to make it 59-48 with 5:28 remaining.

Felton would break the drought with a jumper and Johnson would hit a dagger from behind the arc to put the Pirates up 15 and Kalib LaCount and Felton would hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Game Notes

With 21 points on Thursday evening, RJ Felton needs just six points to become the 34th player in ECU basketball history to score 1,000 points in his Pirate career.
Johnson is now eighth all-time in program history in double-doubles with his 20th on Thursday night.
The Pirates' 59 percent shooting from the floor in the first half is a season-high and the best mark for a first half in the Schwartz era.
With the win, the Pirates have earned their sixth win in league play for a third consecutive season and the 6-6 mark is the program's best 12-game start in AAC play.
The Pirates forced their opponent into double-digit turnovers for the sixth straight game with 14 Shockers giveaways.

Up Next
East Carolina hosts Tulane on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.