Pirates Drop Home Contest To North Texas, 69-60

Tuesday, January 14

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

9-9,1-4AAC

North Texas

12-4,3-1AAC

North Texas

East Carolina

January 14, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – RJ Felton scored a season-high 30 points but East Carolina fell at home to North Texas, 69-60, on Tuesday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

C.J. Walker added 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting for the Pirates (9-9, 1-4 AAC) who only shot 4-for-10 at the free throw line on the night compared to the Mean Green's 76 percent (19-of-25).

Atin Wright led North Texas (12-4, 3-1 AAC) with 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from behind the arc.

The Pirates forced a Mean Green timeout with a 7-0 run at the 11:16 mark of the first half, turning an early 9-5 deficit into a 12-9 lead by forcing four turnovers from North Texas.

Wright hit two threes to power an 8-0 run to put UNT back in front but Felton answered with back-to-back threes to give the Pirates to lead back with 4:30 to go in the half. ECU closed the half making their last six shots to go into the locker room ahead 33-27.

The Mean Green scored the first five points of the second half to pull within a point but Felton would hit one of his six threes to temporarily stop UNT's run. North Texas would retake the lead with 8:30 to go in the game on a pair of free throws and UNT extended its lead to 57-50 with a 9-0 run, forcing an ECU timeout at the 5:52 mark of the second half.

Felton snapped a four-minute scoreless drought for the Pirates with another three-pointer to make the score 60-53 but the Pirates could not get any closer down the stretch as the Mean Green recorded their fourth straight win over the Pirates.

Game Notes

Jordan Riley has recorded a steal in eight straight games.
The Pirates' starting five of Woodard, Felton, Riley, LaBeaux and Walker was ECU's fifth different starting five of the season.
ECU has forced its opponent into 10 or more turnovers for 13 straight games.
ECU is 1-5 when making fewer free throws than their opponent.
ECU is 1-6 when losing the rebound battle on the season after being outrebounded 34-25 by the Mean Green.
RJ Felton moved into eighth place all-time in scoring at ECU, passing Jayden Gardner. Felton now has 1,482 career points and is three points away from tying Anton Gill (1,485 career points) at No. 7.
Felton's 30-point performance was the third of his career.

Up Next
East Carolina hits the road for its next two contests starting with a visit to Wichita State on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.