photo by Don Mooney
by Don Mooney
FORT WORTH, Texas ––Jaden Walker scored 22 points and dished out 10 assists as East Carolina defeated South Florida 73-58 in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday afternoon inside Dickies Arena.
RJ Felton added 22 points and seven rebounds, Ezra Ausar added 10 points and David Kasanganay scored a career-high 10 points for the Pirates (16-16, 6-12 AAC) who won their first AAC tournament game since 2017. Ludgy Debaut controlled the paint with five rebounds in a career-high 35 minutes.
Tyler Harris led South Florida (14-18, 7-11 AAC) with a game-high 26 points.
The Pirates never relinquished their lead and build a double-digit advantage at the 15:48 mark of the second half and carried it to the final whistle.USF shot 48 percent in the first half (4-for-8 from downtown) before slumping to 29 percent in the second half (3-for-13 from downtown).
ECU would fight back in the game, making four of its next five shots to take its first lead at 30-29 on a Walker three-pointer with 3:27 left in the first half. Kasanganay would cap off the first half with a four-point play to put ECU ahead 41-33 at the break.
The Pirates would keep their foot on the gas to start the second half, jumping out to a 16-point lead and shutting down the Bulls’ offense in the second half to cruise to the first round win.
Up Next
East Carolina will face top-ranked Houston in the AAC Quarterfinals tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.