WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Brandon Johnson's 12 points helped East Carolina defeat Wichita State 54-52 on Wednesday night.
Bobby Pettiford Jr.'s dunk stretched the Pirates' lead to 54-47 with about three minutes to play. Dalen Ridgnal missed a potential game-tying 3 for Wichita State with two seconds left.
Johnson also had seven rebounds and three steals for the Pirates (10-10, 3-4 American Athletic Conference). RJ Felton added 10 points while finishing 5 of 15 from the floor. Ezra Ausar shot 4 of 9 from the field and 1 for 3 from the line to finish with 10 points.
Harlond Beverly led the Shockers (8-11, 0-6) in scoring, finishing with 18 points and six rebounds. Ridgnal added eight points and six rebounds. Colby Rogers had seven points. The loss was the Shockers' eighth straight.
East Carolina went into the half ahead of Wichita State 26-22. Jaden Walker put up six points in the half. East Carolina took the lead for good with 7:13 remaining in the second half on a dunk from Johnson to make it a 45-43 game.
EAST CAROLINA (10-10)
Ausar 4-9 1-3 10, Johnson 4-8 1-2 12, Malonga 1-4 1-1 3, Felton 5-15 0-0 10, Walker 3-10 0-0 6, Hayes 1-8 0-0 3, Pettiford 4-9 0-0 8, Pinedo 0-2 0-0 0, Richard 1-1 0-2 2, Bayela 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-68 3-8 54.
WICHITA ST. (8-11)
Ridgnal 3-8 0-0 8, Ballard 2-2 1-2 5, Beverly 7-10 4-4 18, Cortes 0-2 0-0 0, Rogers 1-9 4-4 7, Bell 2-7 0-2 4, DeGray 1-2 2-2 4, Pohto 2-3 0-0 4, Abidde 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 18-44 13-16 52.
Halftime_East Carolina 26-22. 3-Point Goals_East Carolina 5-14 (Johnson 3-5, Ausar 1-1, Hayes 1-3, Bayela 0-1, Felton 0-2, Walker 0-2), Wichita St. 3-18 (Ridgnal 2-7, Rogers 1-5, Abidde 0-1, Beverly 0-1, Bell 0-2, Cortes 0-2). Rebounds_East Carolina 34 (Johnson 7), Wichita St. 34 (Ballard 9). Assists_East Carolina 7 (Hayes 2), Wichita St. 8 (Beverly 3). Total Fouls_East Carolina 15, Wichita St. 13. A_5,252 (10,506).