ECU Rallies For a 67-65 Win Over USF
Kentrell Barkley led four ECU players in double-figures with 16 points and ECU came from behind to pick up a hard fought 67-65 AAC win over USF Wednesday night in Tampa.
Barkley went 6 of 13 from the floor including a pair of three-point jumpers and interim ECU head coach Michael Perry was pleased to see him get untracked offensively.
“He played the type of basketball we are accustomed to seeing him play, making plays outside of the offensive set, challenging and making things happen in transition, a couple of offensive rebounds,” Perry said, “He did a great job across the board. We’ve been wanting to see that type of play from him and it was great to see it.”
B.J. Tyson added 14 points, Jabari Craig had a solid offensive outing with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and Isaac Fleming added 12 points and no turnovers from his point guard position. It was the Pirates’ first AAC win of the season.
“The guys really came together. We had two good days of practices. The message after coming off of a tough loss was about being together and really buying into being family. I really challenged the guys to put the differences aside for the next two and a half months and just be a team in everything that we do,” said Perry, “It was reflected in our play today. We were very cohesive and we really played as a team.”
ECU(7-7/1-2 AAC) won it despite 18 points from Stephan Jiggetts and 15 points from Terrence Samuel for USF who falls to 7-9 and 0-3 in AAC play.
With both teams exchanging baskets, Stephon Jiggetts’ eighth point of the first period on a drive in the paint put USF up by three points at 18 to 15. Then Jiggetts got his eleventh point on a three-pointer to go along with a trey from David Collins that extended USF’s first half lead to five.
Tulio Desilva’s dunk and a drive from David Collins extended the USF cushion to seven with three minutes to play in the period. Then Desilva’s three-point play after a steal in transition expanded the Bulls’ lead to as much as nine points at 35-24 before a B.J. Tyson layup cut the USF lead to six at halftime.
Jiggetts with 11 for the Bulls and Kentrell Barkley with ten for ECU were the only players in double-figures in the first half. USF had seven less shot attempts and committed ten turnovers, but they connected on 52 percent of their shots in the first twenty minutes to just 37.5 percent for the Pirates who hit just 12 of 32 including just 2 of 9 from the arc.
A pair of ECU treys cut the USF lead to two at 50-48 with eleven minutes to go. Then Barkley tied the game for ECU at 52-52 midway into the second period. The Pirates took their first lead of the half on a pair of free throws from Jabari Craig.
The two teams exchanged baskets down the stretch until a B.J. Tyson trey finally put ECU up by a point with two minutes to go. Then Barkley canned a pair of free throws to expand the Pirate lead to four at 67-63 with just 23 seconds remaining.
Two Jiggetts free throws trimmed the lead to two with 19 seconds left and ECU threw the basketball away on the inbounds pass giving USF a last shot opportunity that Samuel missed from three-point range and ECU held on for the victory.
