Pirates power past South Florida to win third straight, 64-55

by | Jan 25, 2025

By ECUPirates.com

C.J. Walker scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds as East Carolina defeated South Florida, 64-55, on Saturday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

RJ Felton and Jordan Riley each added 12 points for the Pirates (12-9, 4-4 AAC) who have won three straight games.

Kobe Knox led South Florida (10-10, 3-4 AAC) with a game-high 17 points.

After getting a steal and a score in the opening seconds of the game, the Pirates missed three shots in a row before Cam Hayes snapped a three-minute field goal drought to tie the game at 5-5 going into the first media timeout.

ECU hit back-to-back threes from Felton and Jayshayne Woodard to extend their lead to 13-5 and force a Bulls’ timeout with 13:23 left in the first half. South Florida countered with a 12-4 run to tie the contest at 17 before a fast break slam from Walker put the Pirates back in front.

The teams traded leads and three-pointers in the span of a minute before Jayden Reid’s score gave South Florida its largest lead of the game at 25-22 with three and a half minutes to go in the first half. ECU closed the half out strong, outscoring USF 9-3, to go into the locker room up 31-28.

A three-point play from Walker to open the second half pushed the Pirates’ lead to six but the Bulls would not go away, cutting the lead to just two at the 18:10 mark of the second half. ECU’s threes would start to fall again as the Pirates blew the game open with long distance makes from Felton, Riley and Trevion LaBeaux to increase the lead to 12.

The Bulls would get no closer than nine down the stretch as timely offensive rebounds and made shots allowed the Pirates to control the final 10 minutes for the win.

Game Notes

  • Jordan Riley has recorded a steal in 11 straight games and has tallied multiple steals in 14 games this season.
  • RJ Felton’s 14 rebounds are a new career-high.
  • ECU has won three straight AAC games for the second time since joining the league. The Pirates won three consecutive AAC games for the first time last season.
  • Trevion LaBeaux scored a season-high eight points and tied a season-high in rebounds with eight.
  • The Pirates have made a total of 32 threes in their last three games after hit 10 on Saturday.
  • The rebounding margin advantage of +21 for ECU (48-27) was the third-largest rebounding margin for the Pirates this year and the largest against a Division I opponent this season.
  • ECU improved to 10-3 on the season when outrebounding their opponent.
  • LaBeaux also made a season-best two threes.
  • Jordan Riley is shooting 50 percent (3-for-6) from three over his last two games.

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