East Carolina Hopes To Stop Slide Against Cincinnati
January 21, 2003 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina (10-5, 1-3) will look to end its current three-game losing streak Wednesday night as it hosts Conference USA American Division co-leader Cincinnati at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The game, which tips at 7 p.m., will not be televised, but can be heard across the 26-station Pirate Sports Network throughout the Carolinas and Virginia.
The Pirates dropped their third consecutive Conference USA game this past Sunday against DePaul in Chicago, 55-42. The Pirates were held to their lowest field goal percentage of the season, 30.8 percent, and lowest total point production.
Junior Gabriel Mikulas led East Carolina with a game-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, junior Derrick Wiley added 14 points and fellow junior Erroyl Bing snatched 10 rebounds. Marlon Brooks led DePaul with 11 points as the Blue Demons outscored East Carolina from the free throw line, 19-8.
Cincinnati (11-3, 4-0) won its sixth straight game Saturday, dismantling Tulane, 77-54, at the Shoemaker Center. Leonard Stokes poured in a season-high 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting against the Green Wave. Field Williams scored 17 points and Jason Maxiell added 12.
The game is expected to be a defensive contest. Cincinnati leads Conference USA in scoring defense (56.5 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.383). East Carolina ranks fourth in the league in each of those categories, holding its opponents to an average of 64.1 points per game and 39.8 percent from the field.
The Bearcats have won all three previous games in the series. ECU hosted Cincinnati in its first-ever Conference USA game a year ago and played the then-13th ranked Bearcats to a 10-point game at home.
