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Derrick Wiley scored 17 points to lead East Carolina to a 74-67 win over Virginia Tech Saturday night.
Gabriel Mikulas had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pirates (7-1), while Erroyl Bing added 14 points and 14 rebounds.
The Pirates led nearly the whole game. But East Carolina never was able to build a lead of more than nine points, and held a 34-28 halftime margin.
The Hokies challenged in the second half, tying the score at 49 and 52 before taking the lead 54-52 with 7:55 left on a layup by Allen Calloway. But the Pirates took the lead for good at 56-54 with 6:59 left on Wiley's layup.
Bryant Matthews
had a game-high 21 points for the Hokies (7-4), while Zabian Dowdell had 17
and Coleman Collins added 14.
After a tough five-game
stretch away from their home court, Gonzaga will be glad to be back in Spokane,
Wash.
The Bulldogs look to rebound from their first loss in eight games as they host
Washington State Sunday at the Kennel.
Fifteenth-ranked Gonzaga lost 87-80 to No. 6 Stanford on Dec. 20, snapping a seven-game winning streak.
The Bulldogs (7-2), coming off an 87-80 upset win over then-No. 3 Missouri in Seattle, were facing their third top-25 opponent in four games.
Gonzaga, which has not played on its home court since Nov. 29, also beat No. 24 Maryland 82-68 on Dec. 6.
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``We never really got into a rhythm offensively or anything else,'' Gonzaga
coach Mark Few said after the loss to the Cardinal. ``They played harder, they
were more aggressive, they made the most of their post touches, and every time
we lost the ball, (Matt) Lottich came up with it and scored.
``They were in an attack mode the entire game. We were back on our heels, especially early.''
Adam Morrison had a career-high 20 points, and Blake Stepp added 20 against the Cardinal, but leading scorer Ronny Turiaf (16 points per game) was held to just 10 points.
The Bulldogs, who have flown approximately 13,000 miles already this season, might have better luck at the Kennel, where they have gone 55-3 over the past five seasons.
Last season, Gonzaga went 10-2 at home -- the first time they lost two home games since 1997.
The Cougars (6-3) are coming off a frustrating 46-29 loss to Fresno State on Monday, snapping a four-game winning streak.
Washington State shot a season-low 23.3 percent (10-for-43) from the field, including 14.3 percent (4-for-28) from beyond the arc, matching the eighth-lowest point total by a Division I school since the 3-point line was instituted in 1986.
Marcus Moore, who leads the Cougars with 14.1 points per game, had a team-high eight points.
``When we're bad, we are incredibly bad,'' Washington State coach Dick Bennett said. ``And this is one of those occasions when we were incredibly bad.''
Washington State leads the all-time series 95-42, but has lost the last four matchups.