ECU Sports Information has details of the ECU men’s basketball team and their 89-56 loss to No. 11 Michigan State.
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Photo credit: Jordan Riley (ECU Sports Information)
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jordan Riley scored 13 points as East Carolina fell to No. 11 Michigan State, 89-56, on Tuesday afternoon in the Fort Myers Tip-Off at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
Corey Caulker added 11 points for the Pirates (2-4) who hung around in the early minutes of the game but were overmatched by Michigan State’s length and defense most of the game.
Jaxon Kohler had a game-high 16 points on four made threes to lead Michigan State (6-0).
Michigan State scored the first four points of the game until Tybo Bailey’s three got the Pirates on the board at the 16:33 mark of the first half to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Spartans. After the Spartans took a 9-4 lead with 14:24 to go in the first, the Pirates rallied back after a three from Riley and a floater from Caulker tied the contest at nine with 13 minutes to go in the half.
The Spartans pushed their lead to 12 with an 8-0 run until Isaiah Mbeng’s three at the 8:23 mark of the first half cut Michigan State’s lead to just nine. That would be as close as the Pirates would get the rest of the half as a field goal drought of three and a half minutes allowed Michigan State to build a 41-19 lead with just under three minutes to go, forcing the Pirates to burn their second timeout.
The teams would go into the locker room at the break with Michigan State holding a 47-24 lead.
Back-to-back baskets from Riley and Giovanni Emejuru opened the second half for the Pirates but the Spartans would build their lead to as much as 43 points in the rout.
Up Next
East Carolina faces St. Bonaventure on Thursday at noon on FS1.