After entering American Athletic Conference play with a 7-5 record, the East Carolina University men’s basketball team opened up conference play with a 82-54 blowout loss coming from the hands of Southern Methodist University on Wednesday to enter the new year.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle until there was 7:30 remaining in the period. When 7:30 came the score was tied at 18-18. The Mustangs (9-4, 1-0 AAC) closed out the half on a 17-7 run to have a lead 35-25 over ECU (7-6, 0-1 AAC).
The second half, however, was where the Pirates crumbled on both offense and defense.