Riley, Gardner help East Carolina earn 85-75 victory over Rice

Published Feb. 14, 2026 4:58 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Jordan Riley had 22 points and Demitri Gardner scored 21 to help East Carolina beat Rice 85-75 on Saturday.

Riley added six rebounds and three steals for the Pirates (9-16, 4-8 American Conference). Gardner shot 6 for 9 (3 for 4 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Giovanni Emejuru had 17 points and shot 5 of 6 from the field and 7 for 12 from the line.

Trae Broadnax led the way for the Owls (11-15, 5-8) with 27 points and four assists. Bodey Howell added 19 points. Andrew Akuchie finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

East Carolina took the lead with 12:10 left in the first half and did not trail again. Riley had nine points to help the Pirates to a 38-34 halftime lead. East Carolina used a 9-0 run in the second half to build a 14-point lead at 56-42 with 13:23 left.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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