Top-seeded SMU (28-4) beat ninth-seed East Carolina 81-77 Friday afternoon at the XL Center in the AAC tournament quarterfinals. In the same building, 728 days earlier, No. 1 seed SMU survived 15 ECU 3-pointers for a 74-68 win. Friday, the Pirates made 13 3s.
For a half, the game looked like the teams’ two prior meetings this season, which SMU won by 31 and 40. The Mustangs led 43-21 at the break. ECU shot just 30 percent in the first half and made two of its 11 3-point tries.
In the second half, though, ECU made 11-of-19 3-pointers (57.