TULSA, Okla. — So much for sending Mack McCarthy out a winner. McCarthy’s three-year career as head coach of the East Carolina’s men’s basketball team ended Wednesday with a 93-80 loss to Houston at the Conference USA Tournament.

The Pirates (10-21) were able to hang with the Cougars (16-15) for about 14 minutes in the first half before UH stepped on the gas and left ECU in its rear view mirror.

McCarthy finished his ECU career with a 34-57 record.

“We just haven’t made the progress with the basketball program that is possible,” said McCarthy, who is taking a fundraising job with ECU. “I can see the problems pretty well, but I can also see the hope. ... I’m really pleased to be continuing to be a part of that.”

Houston hit five 3-pointers in the first 9 minutes of the second half to essentially put the game out of reach. Aubrey Coleman, the nation’s leading scorer with a 26-points-per-game average coming in, drained consecutive triples to give the Cougars a 78-52 lead — their largest of the game — with 11:44 left to play.

The Pirates showed signs of life in the game’s final minutes, reeling off a 26-10 run to make it 88-78 with 3:52 remaining. ECU turned the ball over on its next two possessions, but managed to cut the lead to single digits — 89-80 — on Corvonn Gaines’ layup at 2:06.

Gaines’ bucket wound up being the Pirates’ final points of the season though and Coleman’s lay-in coupled with two Desmond Wade free throws completed the scoring.

“This game was a lot like our season in many ways,” McCarthy said. “There were some good things. There were some bad things. There was some hope and then there were moments where it didn’t look like we knew what we were doing. To this day, we’re still working on effort kinds of things, still working on attitude kinds of things and those are two things that ought to be givens a little bit more than they were for this group.”

Brock Young and Darrius Morrow finished the season strong, scoring 24 and 22 points, respectively, for the Pirates, who also got 12 points from Erin Straughn.

Coleman led five Cougars in double-figure scoring with a game-high 29 points.

Coleman’s dunk with 9:49 left to play in the first half pushed Houston’s lead to 24-14, but an 11-5 Pirate run capped by Morrow’s two-hand jam brought ECU within four, 29-25, at the 7:20 mark.

Jamar Abrams’ 3-pointer cut Houston’s lead to 31-28 with 6:39 left until halftime, but the Cougars responded with a 19-9 run to close the half and led 50-37 at the break.

HOUSTON 93, EAST CAROLINA 80

EAST CAROLINA (10-21)

Morrow 7-8 8-12 22, Abrams 2-3 0-0 6, Young 8-15 6-7 24, Straughn 5-11 0-0 12, Sherrod 2-5 0-0 5, Gaines 1-1 1-2 3, Ellison 1-3 2-2 4, Joyner 2-5 0-2 4. Totals 28-51 17-25 80.

HOUSTON (16-15)

S.Coleman4-7 0-1 11, Washington 3-6 0-1 6, Lewis 5-12 4-5 15, Wade 4-4 2-2 13, A.Coleman9-20 7-11 29, Nixon 0-3 0-2 0, McNeil 4-7 3-3 11, Haywood 0-2 0-0 0, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Broughton 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Van Slyke 2-4 2-2 8. Totals 31-66 18-27 93.

Halftime—Houston 50-37. 3-Point Goals—East Carolina 7-17 (Abrams 2-3, Young 2-5, Straughn 2-7, Sherrod 1-1, Ellison 0-1), Houston 13-26 (A.Coleman4-6, Wade 3-3, S.Coleman3-4, Van Slyke 2-4, Lewis 1-5, Nixon 0-1, Brown 0-1, Haywood 0-2). Fouled Out—Abrams. Rebounds—East Carolina 36 (Joyner 8), Houston 31 (McNeil 8). Assists—East Carolina 15 (Young 5), Houston 19 (Wade 7). Total Fouls—East Carolina 21, Houston 19. Technical—Sherrod. A—NA.