WRAL Sports Fan

Final Score: East Carolina 74, UAB 61

Greenville, NC (Sports Network) - Maurice Kemp scored 23 points for the East Carolina Pirates who took a 74-61 Conference USA win over the Blazers of UAB at Minges Coliseum.

Kemp was 7-of-10 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line for the Pirates (14-9, 5-5 C-USA), who have won two of their last three after a two-game slump. Akeem Richmond scored 15 points in 19 minutes on the court while Ty Armstrong added 12 points. Miguel Paul put together a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists.

Rod Rucker just missed a double-double for UAB (11-14, 3-7) with 14 points and nine rebounds. Fahro Alihodzic added 11 points while Robert Williams had nine points, nine rebounds, and four assists. The Blazers saw a short two-game win streak end.

UAB shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half but ECU shot 60.0 percent and took a 38-34 lead into halftime.

In the second half the Blazers shooting dropped to 32.4 percent and the Pirates hit on 43.5 percent while holding a 13-4 edge from the free-throw line to secure the win.

The Pirates shot nearly 10 percentage points better (.521) from the floor than UAB (.426), which went 2-of-16 from 3-point range. ECU also only allowed the Blazers to get 10 attempts from the charity stripe while getting 24 attempts itself.