The ECU men’s basketball team opened its 2026-27 season with a win over USC Upstate on Monday.
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Photo and story by ECU Sports Information
Kaseem Watson scored a game-high 17 points as East Carolina defeated USC Upstate, 83-70, in its season opener on Monday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Brycen Blaine, Cian Medley and Trevor Best each added 14 points for the Pirates (1-0) who used 12 made threes, including nine in the first half to create enough separation from the Spartans down the stretch. Medley also added 11 assists at the point guard position.
Jalyn Patterson led USC Upstate (0-1) with 16 points.
USC Upstate scored on its first two offensive possessions of the game but the Pirates used an 11-1 run by Watson and Blaine to jump in front 11-5 with 15:49 to go in the first half.
The Spartans countered with an 8-0 run to go ahead 13-12, but ECU took an 18-18 tie with 12 minutes remaining and turned it into a 41-28 advantage with 1:35 before halftime.
After going into the half with a 44-32 lead, the Pirates continued to be effective on offense, taking a 20-point lead on a basket from Maxim Klitschko.
USC Upstate cut the lead to 11 with eight minutes remaining, but ECU quickly pushed its lead back to 17 on a fast-break layup from Best, and the Pirates were able to secure their 27th straight season-opening win.
Up Next
East Carolina continues its homestand on Saturday when it hosts UNCW at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.