GREENVILLE — USC Upstate hung around with East Carolina Friday night at Minges Coliseum until true freshman Kentrell Barkley gave the Pirates a spark with just under 10 minutes left in an 82-71 win.

Barkley was sent to the free throw line, not a rare occurrence for ECU (32 attempts), and sank the first before missing the second. Fellow freshman Deng Riak made a strong move to pick up the offensive board, but the putback fell short. Barkley didn’t give up on the play, however.

Barkley grabbed the offensive board, one of four rebounds on that end of the court, and slammed home the follow up. The Pirates (5-3) went on top 59-51 on the play, cut an Upstate run down and brought life to a crowd dampened by the news from the football department.

“He’s not afraid of anything, he’s not afraid of any moment,” ECU head coach Jeff Lebo said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in him when I put him in. It’s nice to look down there, just like I did with B.J. (Tyson as a freshman), and know that I can go there when you need something. And he was outstanding tonight.”

Barkley notched a career-high in points with 18 in the win and again led the team in rebounds with 9.

Barkley was not the only underclassman with a career night.

Tyson has shaken off the rust from his cold start and has started taking the ball to the rim with conviction. The sophomore poured in a career-high 26 points with five boards, three assists and a block. Most impressively, the 6-foot-3 guard scored all his points from the paint.

“I looked back at some of the games and saw how easy it was to take it to the rim,” Tyson said. “I saw how strong I can take it, so I just decided to do that in this game.”

The Spartans (1-9) shot with ease from outside, 13-for-27, and kept themselves in the contest while working the ball inside-out against the Pirate zone. Upstate’s three starting forwards finished with 11 assists combined as Mike Cunningham led the way in scoring with 18.

“We had a good four-year run but now we’re starting over, and we’re just trying to get better,” said former ECU coach Eddie Payne. “Tonight I would say we did get better but we didn’t manage possessions late when the game was still close.”

The Spartans turned the ball over 17 times, including four in the middle of the second half, and conceded 19 points off of them. The Spartans were especially dominated in the paint, where ECU scored 48 of its 82 points.

Prince Williams had a quietly impressive game as he played well at both ends. The senior scored 11 points with four assists and five steals. Lebo said having that level of play back from an experienced player has been critical.

“I like, and I told him this, I like when I don’t notice him that much,” Lebo said. “He’ll make a couple shots but he’s not noticeable out there making, or limiting some of the bad plays. As a senior, that’s how you want to play.”

Williams’ play has been a happy surprise and a major lift given the play of Lance Tejada, who has struggled to this point of the season.

ECU will head back out on the road for a matchup with College of Charleston Monday.