Men's Basketball Opens Conference Play Against USF Wednesday
January 04, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Fresh off its first win in over a month, East Carolina will open Conference USA play against USF at 7 p.m. Wednesday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The game will be televised throughout Eastern North Carolina on WITN-TV 7, "The Official Station of the ECU Pirates." The game will be the first of two meetings this season between ECU and USF as they've been designated "traditional rivals" by the league office again this season.
The Pirates ended a five-game losing streak Monday by defeating Division II St. Andrews, 88-40. All five starters scored double figures led by junior Corey Rouse's game-high 19 points. Sophomore Japhet McNeil poured in a career-best 15 points, while Moussa Badiane, Mike Cook and Tom Hammonds also netted double digits.
Rouse, Badiane and junior Mike Castro each grabbed double digit rebounds as the Pirates dominated the interior, scoring 46 points in the paint and outrebounding the undersized Knights by 23.
ECU turned in its best shooting performance since beating Toledo at home on December 1. The Pirates connected on 48.5 percent of its shots and handed out 22 assists on 33 field goals made.
East Carolina will hope to keep the hot hand Wednesday against USF, one of the better defensive teams in Conference USA. The Bulls ranks sixth in the league in both scoring defense (64.2) and field goal percent defense (.410).
USF is also one of the best teams in the conference in terms of putting the ball in the basket. The Bulls ranks second, behind Louisville, in field goal percentage (.484) and are averaging over 72 points per game, while limiting opponents to just over 64 points per outing.
The Pirates will being looking to secure their fourth victory over USF in as many attempts Wednesday. ECU is 3-0 all-time against the Bulls, including a 2-0 mark inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Tough Schedule Ahead
Beginning Saturday at Charlotte, East Carolina will play five consecutive games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season. Each of the Pirates' next seven games are against teams that participated in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT in 2004. Of its 16 Conference USA games this season, 10 are against teams that participated in postseason play a year ago.
TV Time
Beginning with Wednesday night's game against USF, each of the Pirates' next nine games will be televised either locally or via a satellite. WITN-TV 7 will broadcast the USF game locally and ESPN Regional will televise home games against UAB and Charlotte. C-SET will televise Saturday night's game against the Niners in Charlotte. Games against Cincinnati, Saint Louis and Memphis will be will be available via a satellite.
The Book on USF
ECU-USF Series History
Prior to joining Conference USA, East Carolina had never faced USF. Since that time, the two teams have played three times with ECU winning all three previous meetings. More series history:
ECU In C-USA Openers
East Carolina has opened C-USA play at home since becoming a member. The Pirates are 1-2 in those games. They lost to Cincinnati in their debut in 2002, knocked off Marquette the following year and then fell by three to UAB in the conference opener a year ago.
Pirates Have C-USA Homecourt Winning Streak
East Carolina will look to extend its homecourt winning streak against Conference USA opponents to four games Wednesday against USF. Ironically, ECU ended its 2003-04 home slate with a win over USF. The Pirates won their final three home games of the 2003-04 season by posting wins over Tulane, TCU, and the Bulls.
As the Pirates enter their fourth season of competition in Conference USA, they have compiled an 11-13 mark at home against C-USA foes. ECU has posted a 3-5 record the last two seasons and recorded a 5-3 mark in 2001-02.
Record Setting D
During its final non-conference game of the 2004-05 season, East Carolina put the clamps on St. Andrews. The Pirates limited the Knights to an ECU opponent record low 22.8 percent shooting from the field. The Pirate "D" also established several other records against St. Andrews:
The defensive limitation of points translated into the ninth largest margin of victory in school history, 48 points.
Career Nights
Several Pirates established numerous career highs during ECU's victory over St. Andrews. They are listed below:
