Darrius Morrow's double-double propelled East Carolina to a 75-60 victory over UCF in the first round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday.
Morrow had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Pirates (17-14), who will face top-seeded UAB (22-7) in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Jamar Abrams hit four 3-pointers among his 15 points, and Robert Sampson went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in scoring 12 for East Carolina, which went 10 of 17 from long range. Brock Young added nine points, seven assists and five steals.
Keith Clanton scored 15 points to pace the ninth-seeded Knights (19-11). Isaac Sosa scored 11, and Marcus Jordan had seven assists.
UCF went on a 16-2 run late in the first half and led 39-34 at intermission.
But East Carolina had closed within 43-41 when Morrow scored six straight points. That made it 47-43 with 13:03 left and put the Pirates ahead to stay.
