Slow Start Dooms Pirates Against Tulsa | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the news and information section for East Carolina University men's and women's sports.


    TULSA, Okla.     East Carolina fell behind by 16 points in the first nine minutes and never recovered on its way to suffering a 70-56 loss to Tulsa on Wednesday night.

    Martins Igbanu led four Hurricane players in double figures with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Darien Jackson had 11 points and five steals for Tulsa (16-8, 8-3 American Athletic Conference), while Jeriah Horne added 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Lawson Korita had 10 points.

    Horne and Korita made back-to-back 3s to start the game, while the Pirates missed their first five shots.

    Tulsa constructed a 14-2 run, including a streak of 10 unanswered points, to take a 23-7 lead with 11:44 to play in the first half. The Golden Hurricane shot 47.8 percent (10 of 25) before halftime, while holding ECU to 25.0 percent (6 of 24).

    TU led 39-23 at halftime.

    East Carolina (10-15, 4-8 The American) mounted a rally and cut its deficit in half, trailing by eight with just over five minutes to play. However, Tulsa finished the game on an 11-5 run, making 7 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve its victory.

    Junior JJ Miles matched his career-high with 21 points, while freshman Brandon Suggs added 13 and sophomore Jayden Gardner posted his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

    In the process, Gardner reached two milestone marks Wednesday night, recording his 1,000th career point and 500th career rebound.

    The Pirates return to action on Sunday, Feb. 16, at home against Cincinnati. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

    POSTGAME NOTES

• Gardner became the 32nd player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point mark and third-fastest to do so (56 games). He currently has 1,010 career points, which ranks him 31st all-time on the school's scoring list. Gardner also went over the 500-point mark for the season, recording the 10th 500-point season in school history.
• Gardner also became the 24th player to grab 500 career rebounds at ECU. With 505 career rebounds to his credit he currently stands 23rd all-time at ECU.
• In addition to matching his season-high for points, Miles posted career-high for field goals made (8), field goal attempts (16), 3-point attempts (11), steals (3) and minutes played (34).
• Suggs scored double digits for the second straight game and 14th time overall this season. Only Gardner has scored double figures in more games (25) than Suggs.
• The Pirates collected double digit steals (11) for the third time this season and first time in a conference game. They had 12 at Navy and 11 against Eastern Kentucky.
• ECU was held to its second-lowest scoring output of the season. Its lowest point total was 49 against Tulsa last month (Jan. 15, 2020).