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From an Account by JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer

CINCINNATI — East Carolina had staggered Houston one time this season already. For awhile Wednesday, it looked like it might do so again — but just for awhile.

Louis Truscott scored 11 of his game-high 15 points in the second half Wednesday as the Cougars rallied for a 58-49 victory over ECU in the first round of the Conference USA tournament.

Houston (17-13) overcame a 13-point deficit late in the first half to earn a quarterfinal matchup against Memphis (22-8) on Thursday.

East Carolina (12-18) stunned the Cougars by pulling out to a 25-12 lead with 5:20 left in the first half, but the Pirates' undependable offense disintegrated. The Pirates finished last in the conference in scoring (60.4 points per game), field-goal shooting and 3-point shooting.

Houston is the best-shooting team in the conference, making 47.6 percent from the field, but the Cougars couldn't get any shots to go in at the outset. They missed 14 of their first 16 as East Carolina pulled ahead by double digits.

It looked like they were headed for a repeat of their 63-46 loss at East Carolina on Feb. 23, when the Pirates held them to 29.6 percent shooting.

Jonathan Moore's 3-pointer put East Carolina ahead 25-12 with 5:20 left in the first half, but the basket became a turning point as Houston closed with a 13-1 spurt. Bryan Shelton's floating jumper with 1 second to go cut East
Carolina's lead to 26-25 at halftime.

Truscott's fastbreak layup put Houston ahead 27-26 at the start of the second half, and the lead went back-and-forth for the next 10 minutes. There were four ties and seven lead changes as both teams dug in with zone defenses.

Houston went ahead to stay with a nine-point run that made it 48-40 with 6:42 left. George Williams had a dunk and another up-close basket during the spurt, which was set up by two Pirates turnovers.

Kenyatta Brown's driving bank shot cut it to 54-49 with 1:25 to go, but the Pirates missed their next two shots, forcing them to foul. Patrick Okafor hit two free throws with 25 seconds left, and Truscott closed it out with a dunk.

Travis Holcomb-Faye led East Carolina with 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

Box Score

Houston 58, East Carolina 49

EAST CAROLINA (17-13)

Bing 3-6 3-5 11, Mikulas 3-7 0-0 6, Badiane 1-4 2-2 4, Brown 3-15 3-4 10, Holcomb-Faye 4-14 2-2 12, Foxx 1-5 0-0 3, Hawkins 0-1 0-0 0, Moore 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 16-54 10-13 49.

HOUSTON (12-18)

Truscott 7-13 1-3 15, Williams 6-13 0-0 12, Okafor 3-6 5-8 11, Smith 2-8 0-0 4, Oliver 3-3 2-2 11, McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Shelton 2-6 0-0 5. Totals 23-49 8-13 58.

Halftime: East Carolina 26, Houston 25.

3-Point Goals: East Carolina 7-27 (Bing 2-4, Badiane 0-1, Brown 1-9, Holcomb-Faye 2-6, Foxx 1-4, Hawkins 0-1, Moore 1-2); Houston 4-11 (Williams 0-1, Smith 0-3, Oliver 3-3, Shelton 1-4).

Rebounds: East Carolina 37 (Mikulas 8); Houston 30 (Truscott 8).

Assists: East Carolina 9 (Bing, Mikulas, Brown, Holcomb-Faye 2); Houston 18 (Smith 8).

Total fouls: East Carolina 13, Houston 13.

Fouled Out: None.

Attendance: 9,547.