East Carolina was looking to earn its first home victory against the Golden Hurricane since their initial visit in 2006.
“I’ll give Tulsa credit, they played awfully well. They shot the ball at a high clip,” head coach Jeff Lebo said after the loss. “We played pretty good, actually. [Tulsa] made 13 3’s. We hung in there.”
The Pirates (8-11, 0-6 AAC) stayed close with Tulsa (12-6, 4-2 American) for most of the first half, before squandering down the stretch.
ECU hit its stride with a little over six minutes to play in the first half, as they took its biggest lead of the night after sophomore guard Lance Tejada scored a 3-pointer, pushing the Pirates ahead, 28-21.