Neither team had much to brag about offensively during the first half of Tuesday’s Central Florida-East Carolina men’s basketball game. Click here for a photo gallery.

The visiting Knights turned it up after halftime though, and effectively turned the lights out on the Pirates, who lost their second consecutive game in Minges Coliseum, 67-56.

ECU (7-15, 1-7 Conference USA) hit just 38.9 percent of its field goal attempts, shooting less than 40 percent from the field for the second time in the last three games. Pirate junior forward Jamar Abrams did his part to keep ECU in it, connecting on 11 of his 17 field goal attempts for a game- and career-high 28 points, but no other Pirate scored more than nine and the rest of the team combined to shoot just 10-of-37 from the field.

“Clearly the game came down to (UCF’s) defense,” East Carolina coach Mack McCarthy said. “They really guarded us, turned us over 20 times. ... They also contested every shot really well, and when we got wide-open shots, it seems like there’s even more pressure on them because we’re not getting too many open shots.”

The Knights (11-11, 3-5) opened the second half with an 21-8 run and led 45-31 after Isaac Sosa knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 11 minutes, 3 seconds left to play.

A four-point play from Abrams cut the lead to 50-40 with 6:20 to go, but P.J. Gaynor, a 6-foot-8 forward who was 0-for-7 from 3-point range coming into the game, drained a triple at 5:50 to put UCF back up by 13 points, 53-40.

East Carolina got no closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Stagnant offensive sets were a big reason for ECU’s struggles, according to Abrams.

“(There was) kind of too much standing around sometimes,” Abrams said. “We just need to start executing and moving faster. I think we’re ball-watching a little bit too much.”

Pirate forward Darrius Morrow, who earlier Tuesday had his court case for misdemeanor marijuana possession continued until March 9, started in place of center Chad Wynn, who had been in the starting lineup for the previous 21 games this season. Morrow, who had trouble getting the ball due to UCF fronting the post, finished with eight points, six rebounds and four steals.

ECU point guard Brock Young nearly had a triple-double — nine points, eight rebounds, eight assists —but made just four of his 16 field goal attempts. Young, East Carolina’s leading scorer, is a combined 7-of-33 from the field in his last two games.

“I think he’s just trying too hard,” McCarthy said of Young, ECU’s all-time assists leader. “I think it’s probably just on his mind too much. Of course, he’s going to be the focus of everyone’s defense.”

Abrams’ 3-pointer with 11:02 left in the first half staked the Pirates to a 13-7 lead and they held a five-point cushion — 20-15 — after a tough driving layup from Young at the 5:03 mark.

But Sosa sparked a 7-0 UCF run with a pair of 3s that gave the Knights a 22-20 lead with 3:49 left until halftime. A thunderous two-handed alley-oop dunk by Abrams on a Young dish put the Pirates back up 23-22, but A.J. Tyler’s tip-in just before the halftime buzzer gave UCF a 24-23 lead at intermission.

Marcus Jordan, Michael Jordan’s son, scored nine points and grabbed four of UCF’s 14 steals. Taylor Young scored 16 to pace the Knights, who got 14 and 10 from Sosa and Tyler, respectively.

The Pirates play again Saturday at Marshall at 7 p.m.

Contact Tony Castleberry at tcastleberry@reflector.com or (252) 329-9591.