ECU Begins Final Charge Toward C-USA Tournament Wednesday

ECU Begins Final Charge Toward C-USA Tournament Wednesday

02/23/2005

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Greenville, N.C. --- East Carolina will make a final push to qualify for the 2005 Kelly Tires Conference USA beginning Wednesday night as it hosts Southern Miss at 7 o'clock. The Pirates enter the game one-half game behind Tulane for the 12th and final spot in the league's postseason tournament. ECU currently stands in 13th place in the conference with a 3-10 league record, while Southern Miss sits alone in last place with a 1-12 Conference USA record.

With only three games remaining on the schedule, East Carolina still controls its own destiny. Following tonight's game against the Golden Eagles, the Pirates will conclude their 2004-05 home slate against Houston Saturday night before heading to Tulane on Saturday, March 5 for the regular season finale. Since the league expanded to 14 teams in 2001-02, the minimum number of victories needed to qualify for the conference tournament has been five.

ECU has won two of its last three Conference USA home games and three of its last seven league games overall, including a three-point road victory over UAB last Wednesday.

The Pirates are coming off a 10-point loss at USF this past Saturday, 50-60, while Southern Miss is coming off a 12-point home loss to Memphis, 85-73.

For East Carolina it will be a night filled with emotions following Tuesday's announcement that head coach Bill Herrion will not be retained for the 2005-06 season.

Ironically enough, former USM head coach James Green was dismissed the day prior to the Pirates' game with Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg last season.

The Pirates will be looking for a sixth consecutive victory over the Golden Eagles. East Carolina has never lost to Southern Miss in five previous games and has a 3-0 record against the Golden Eagles at home.

The Pirates will look to the trio of senior Moussa Badiane, junior Corey Rouse and sophomore Mike Cook to get their sixth home win of the season. The Pirates need to win each of its final two home games to ensure their 17th consecutive winning season at Minges Coliseum.

Quick Hits

Junior Corey Rouse has recorded three consecutive double-doubles entering Wednesday night's game against Southern Miss. Rouse is averaging 13.7 points and 11.3 rebounds per game over the last three contests.

Sophomore Japhet McNeil became just the ninth player in school history to hand out over 100 assists in a season this past Saturday against USF. McNeil has dished out 101 helpers this season, which ranks as the ninth highest total in school history.

Junior Mike Castro has grabbed seven rebounds in each of the past two games. Castro had jerked at least seven rebounds in a game nine times this season.

Sophomore Mike Cook has scored double figures in 23 of 25 games played this season. Cook was inured during the early stages of the second half against UAB and taken to hospital, ending his night with just seven points against the Blazers in 19 minutes.

Freshman Tom Hammonds ranks as the fourth leading freshman scorer in Conference USA this season with 7.4 points per game. Hammonds is East Carolina's top three-point shooter at 34.2 percent.

Senior Moussa Badiane has blocked at least one shot in every game this season and multiple shots in eight straight games. He has swatted a minimum of three shots in five of the past eight games.

Badiane needs to average eight rebounds oer game over the final three games to reach 600 career boards.

Freshman Marvin Kilgore has started each of the past two games, averaging five points and 19.5 minutes per game.

After going 16-for-30 as team at the foul line against Marquette, East Carolina is shooting 72.5 percent from the chairty stripe over th past two games (37-of-51).

In each of its last three victories, East Carolina has rallied from a halftime deficit.

Pirates Pull Shocker of Week
East Carolina's 67-64 win over UAB this past Wednsday was named Co-Shock of the Week by Dick Vitale on ESPN.com. The Pirates entered the game 2-9 in Conference USA and 7-16 overall. Mike Anderson's squad came in 6-4 in league play and 16-7 overall. Other shocks of the week included Virginia Tech over Duke and Iowa State over Kansas.

ECU Begins Final Charge Toward C-USA Tournament Wednesday

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