Ausar's Career-High 28 Pushes Pirates Past Tulsa, 84-79

Thursday, March 14

Fort Worth, Texas

12:30 p.m.

East Carolina University

15-17,7-11AAC

Tulsa

16-15,7-11AAC

Tulsa

East Carolina

March 14, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Presser

Fort Worth, Texas – Ezra Ausar scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as East Carolina held off Tulsa 84-79 in the second round of the American Athletic Conference Championship inside Dickies Arena on Thursday afternoon.

RJ Felton added 19 points for the Pirates (15-17, 7-11 AAC) who have now won a game in the AAC tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since joining the conference. Brandon Johnson recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

PJ Haggerty led Tulsa (16-15, 7-11 AAC) with a game-high 29 points.

The Pirates got off to a quick start, making four of their first six shots, to take a 10-2 lead at the 16:33 mark of the first half. Tulsa would claw its way back into the game with a 9-0 spurt to take its first lead of the half at 13-12.

ECU would go on a 13-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 41-30 with 1:44 remaining before Tulsa closed the gap to five at the half with a 6-0 spurt.

Cyr Malonga's dunk and a Johnson three to open the second half would force a quick Golden Hurricane timeout as the Pirates' lead was stretched to 10. Tulsa would eventually tie the game at 64 on back-to-back threes and take a late lead at 72-71 with 3:23 remaining in the game. Both teams could not go ahead by more than two points in the final minutes, but Felton would put ECU ahead for good with a jumper at the 34-second mark and the Pirates would hit enough free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Game Notes

Ausar's 28 points were the most points scored by a Pirate in an AAC tournament game with the previous high being 26 points recorded by Tristen Newton (2022) and Kentrell Barkley (2017).
Ausar's 10-for-12 shooting from the floor (83.3 percent) was a new single game AAC Championship record.
ECU improved to 12-4 on the season when leading at the half.
The Pirates are now 11-3 when shooting better than their opponent from the floor.
Johnson and Ausar's double-doubles were the second time this season that those two have each recorded a double-double in the same game.

Up Next
East Carolina will face top-seed South Florida in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.