Men's Basketball Faces South Carolina Tonight in Mobile
December 20, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Greenville, N.C. --- East Carolina will play its final game before the Christmas holidays Monday night as it travels to Mobile, Ala. to face South Carolina as a part of the Coors Classic Basketball Doubleheader, beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. The Pirates will look to snap its first three-game non-conference losing streak since 2001.
The game will be televised throughout the southeast on Comcast Sports Southeast. Matt Stewart and Bobby Cremins will call the game.
Monday night's game will be the first meeting between ECU and South Carolina since 1998 and the first time that USC Head Coach Dave Odom has faced his former team. Odom earned his first collegiate head coaching job at ECU in 1979 and held the position for three seasons.
Both teams were defeated during their last outing. ECU fell to Winthrop at home by 15, while South Carolina came up four points short against second-ranked Kansas in Lawrence Saturday night.
The Pirates will look to breakout of an offensive slump against a very good Gamecock defense. The Pirates are averaging 52.5 points their past two games, while South Carolina has yielded 70 points to an opponent just once this season.
ECU junior Corey Rouse has posted double digit rebounds in four of the past six games and has moved into the top five among Conference USA player in rebounds per game (9.1).
Sophomore Japhet McNeil has also been playing very well averaging 9.5 points and 5.5 assists over the past two games. Regarded as an exceptional on-the-ball defender, McNeil ranks third in C-USA in steals per game.
Co-captains Moussa Badiane and Mike Cook will look to establish their offensive presence once again after be held to a combined 16 points against Winthrop. The two had been averaging a combined 29 points per game entering Friday night's game against Winthrop. The freshmen trio of Tom Hammonds, Jonathan Hart and Josh King will also look to up their production on both ends of the floor.
