Huskies overtake ECU

By Al Myatt
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STORRS, CT — A pair of 17-0 runs boosted host Connecticut to a 65-52 American Athletic Conference win over East Carolina after the Pirates had taken a 10-point lead late in the first half on Wednesday night.

Ryan Boatright led the defending national champions with 23 points as he made seven shots from beyond the arc.

Freshman B.J. Tyson had 20 points to lead ECU (9-13, 2-7 AAC) as he dropped all four of his 3-point attempts and went eight of 11 from the field. Tyson also led the Pirates' rebounding with six.

Caleb White had 11 points for the Pirates and attempted ECU's only two free throws, making one. His free throws came with 1:37 remaining in the game.

White had eight points in the first half as ECU led 34-27 at the break.

Paris Roberts-Campbell finished with nine points.

Terry Whisnant scored all six of his points in the first half, including a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the half that gave the Pirates their biggest lead at 34-24. An ailment that limited Whisnant's breathing allowed him to play just eight minutes of the second half.

ECU made 11 of 21 shots from behind the arc, 52.4 percent.

"We don’t have a real strong inside game so we’re a very perimeter oriented team," said Pirates coach Jeff Lebo. "We missed some shots in the second half. Terry Whisnant was hurt and couldn’t really play much in the second half. That hurt us also. He’s our best scorer. We couldn’t get to the foul line either. It was going to be my first time in 25 years as a coach where we didn’t have a foul shot."

ECU made eight of 13 threes in the first half but was limited to three of eight from long range in the second half.

"Our way to win is trying to shoot the three," Lebo said. "We did a very good job of that in the first half. In the second half we had some early open looks. They went on a big run and we missed some open looks that we were making in the first half."

Whisnant's status for a home game on Saturday at 5 p.m. against Central Florida is uncertain. The Knights dropped to 9-12 overall and 2-8 in AAC play with a 75-56 loss at Southern Methodist on Saturday.

PAGE UPDATED 02/05/15 12:51 AM.

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