Men’s Basketball Drops Road Contest at ECU, 81-62

Saturday, January 25

Greenville, N.C.

5 p.m.

Tulane University

10-9,2-5AAC

East Carolina

9-11,3-4AAC

Tulane

East Carolina

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

Men’s Basketball Drops Road Contest at ECU, 81-62

Jan 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The Tulane men's basketball team suffered an 81-62 American Athletic Conference road loss at East Carolina on Saturday evening at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.

Nic Thomas led the Green Wave with 19 points and made five 3-pointers, while Christion Thompson registered his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds to complement three assists and three steals. Teshaun Hightower also scored in double-figures with 12 points and four steals.

East Carolina (9-11, 3-4 AAC) set the tone, early scoring the first six points of the game, and built its first double-digit lead of the game just under six minutes into the action, 12-2. Tulane (10-9, 2-5 AAC) got its offense going and cut the deficit to six, 13-7, at the 12:04 mark thanks to five straight points by Thomas.

Turnovers and more missed opportunities by the Green Wave allowed the Pirates to balloon their lead over 20 points, 34-11, with 6:24 remaining in the first half. The margin wouldn't draw closer to 20 for the remainder of the period, as ECU took a 40-19 advantage into halftime.

Tulane shot just 7-for-30 (.233) overall and 3-for-10 (.300) beyond the 3-point arc while committing 10 turnovers in the first half, as the Pirates shot 12-for-26 (.462) overall and 5-for-10 (.500) from deep while connecting on 11 of 14 (.786) free throws.

ECU got the first basket of the second half, but six straight points beginning with a Christion Thompson three-point play and a Thomas 3 pulled the Green Wave within 17, as the Pirates burned a timeout with 17:08 left.

Tulane continued to rally, sprinting out on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 11 on Thomas' third 3 of the half, forcing ECU to call another timeout with 13:31 to play and the score 46-35.

The Wave's offense functioned well for much of the second half, but the Pirates had responses for nearly every score with one of their own, as Tulane could not pull within single digits. ECU expanded its lead back to 20 on multiple occasions before closing out the 19-point win.

Jayden Gardner led the Pirates with 27 points over 13 rebounds, while J.J. Miles scored 21 points with seven rebounds off the bench. Miles connected on seven of his nine 3-point shot attempts.

Tulane finished the night shooting 22-for-60 (.367) overall and 8-for-23 (.348) beyond the arc while making 10 of 19 free throws (.526). ECU went 26-for-50 (.520) from the field and 10-for-19 (.526) from outside while connecting on 19 of 27 (.704) attempts at the foul stripe.

Tulane returns home Wednesday, January 29 to host USF. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the WatchESPN app.

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