Tulsa Captures 77-68 Road Victory at ECU

Saturday, January 30

Greenville, NC

11:00 AM

Tulsa

9-6,6-4AAC

ECU

7-6,1-6AAC

Tulsa

East Carolina

Photo by: Houston McCullough

Tulsa Captures 77-68 Road Victory at ECU

1/30/2021 2:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GAME BOOK | SEASON STATS | GALLERY

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Five Golden Hurricane players scored in double-figures as Tulsa defeated the ECU Pirates 77-68 Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena.

Brandon Rachal led the TU scoring with 21 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season as the senior added 3 assists, a block and steal.

Rey Idowu drew his first start as a Hurricane scoring 16 points on 7-10 (70%) from the field and 2-6 (33%) from the free throw line. He tied his season-high in rebounds with 8 to go along with 2 assists, a steal and a block.

Austin Richie (14), Elijah Joiner (11) and Darien Jackson (10) rounded out the group that scored in double-figures for the Hurricane.

Richie led the charge in the first half, scoring all 14 of his points in the opening frame. He went 4-7 (57%) from the field, 4-6 (67%) from three-point range and 2-2 (100%) from the free throw line in the opening period.

The Hurricane moves to 9-6 on the season and 6-4 in American Athletic Conference play, while the Pirates drop to 7-6 and 1-6 in the AAC.

Rachal dominated the second half for the Hurricane scoring 7 of the first 9 points in the half. The senior knocked down a free throw at the 16:32 mark of the half to give the Hurricane its then largest lead of the game at 46-39.

The Pirates fought back taking a 54-53 lead with 10:25 left in the contest, but a quick, 59-second 6-0 run from Tulsa gave the Hurricane the lead back. Rachal's driving layup along with dunks from Jackson and Idowu swung the momentum back TU's way.

Jackson took over down the stretch, scoring 8 of his 10 points in the second half. He went on a 5-0 run of his own completing a 3-point play on a driving layup, before finishing a contested layup with 1:28 left in the game, securing Tulsa a 70-65 lead.

Tulsa closed out the game going 6-6 from the free throw line, as Rachal and Joiner knocked in the clutch free throws.

On the day the Hurricane went 50-percent (24-48) from the field, 37.5-percent (6-16) from three and 71.9% (23-32) from the charity stripe. The Pirates ended the game going 43.1-percent from the field, 27.8-percent from behind the arc and 72.2-percent from the charity stripe.

TU outrebounded ECU 34-28, while grabbing 8 offensive rebounds. The Hurricane was able to use those offensive rebounds to score 9 second chance baskets. Rachal, Idowu and Jackson each had two offensive rebounds for Tulsa.

The Hurricane starters led the way, scoring 65 of Tulsa's 77 points.

For the 6th time this season the Hurricane outscored their opponent in the paint by double-figures, as TU put in 36 paint points compared to the Pirate's 20.

Tulsa outscored ECU 40-33 in the second, which is the 10th time this season the Hurricane has scored more points than their opponent in the final frame.

The Hurricane jumped out of the gate early, taking a 14-11 lead over the Pirates. Richie (8) and Idowu (6) who were newly inserted into the lineup combined for all 14 of the TU points.

Richie (14) and Idowu (10) both finished the first half in double-figures. The Hurricane took a 37-35 lead into the halftime break; TU under head coach Frank Haith is no 89-10 when leading at halftime.

The Pirates were led by Jayden Gardner who scored 26 points on 11-16 (69%) shooting from the field and 4-6 (67%) from the free throw line. ECU also received double-figure contributions from Tremont Robinson-White who had 15 and J.J. Miles who had 13.

The Hurricane is back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 3 for Legend's Night against SMU in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa will honor the 40th anniversary of the 1981 NIT Championship team and the 20-year anniversary of the 2001 NIT Championship.