Pirates Host Coastal Carolina To Start Semester Break
December 18, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2011
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| East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina Dec. 19, 2011 | 7 p.m. ET Greenville, N.C. TV: None |
 Watch |  Live Stats |  Game Notes |  Tickets |  Gameday Central |
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THE LATEST NEWS & NOTES
?East Carolina ended its three-game losing streak Friday night against UNC Greensboro and now looks to stop a two-game slide at home as it faces Coastal Carolina inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Monday.
?The Pirates and Chanticleers are meeting for the fourth consecutive season with Coastal Carolina having won two in a row in the series.
?Monday's game marks the first of four straight home games. Over the semester break, the Pirates will also host Gardner-Webb (Dec. 22), N.C. Central (Dec. 29) and UVa-Wise (Dec. 31).
?Friday's game against UNC Greensboro will be the Pirates' final road game for the 2011 calendar year. East Carolina will play its final four games of the year inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
?Coastal Carolina is ECU's second of three Big South Conference opponents this season. The Pirates lost to Campbell on the road by two and will host BSC member Gardner-Webb on Thursday. East Carolina is 124-84 all-time against current members of the Big South Conference.
?At least one ECU player has grabbed double digit rebounds in five consecutive games.
?The Pirates are coming off thier first 40 percent shooting performance since November. ECU shot 42.9 percent Friday night against UNC Greensboro, snapping a three-game streak of shooting below 36 percent from the floor.
?On Friday night against UNCG, ECU overcame its first double-digit deficit (-10) since rallying from 13 behind to defeat Houston last season.
?ECU coach Jeff Lebo and Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis are the last two head coaches at Auburn University. Lebo coached at Auburn from 2004-10, while Ellis was on the plains from 1994-04.
?The Pirates lead Conference USA in 3-point field goal percent defense. ECU has held seven of its nine opponents under their season 3-point field goal shooting percentage.
?East Carolina is 3-1 this season when scoring over 70 points, but 2-3 when scoring 69 points or less. The Pirates are also 5-2 when surrendering fewer than 70 points. The Chanticleers are averaging more than 81 points per game.
?The Pirates rank second nationally in steals per game (11.0), trailing only No. 1 Syracuse (12.3). ECU has recorded double digit steals in seven of nine games this season with a season-high 14 in the season-opener against Milligan.
WHO TO WATCH
? Senior Darrius Morrow moved into seventh place on the school's all-time scoring list Friday night. He is 32 points shy of former teammate Brock Young for sixth-place. Morrow has scored 1,200 points in 101 games. Morrow is averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds the last two games.
?Junior Maurice Kemp has scored double figures in each of the last two games. He came off the bench to net 12 points against UMass before netting 13 against UNC Greensboro in his first career start.
?Junior Miguel Paul shot over 60 percent from the floor for the fourth time this year Friday against UNCG, sinking 7-of-11 field goal attempts (.636). It was the third time this year that he made seven field goals in a game. He leads Conference USA in assists per game (5.4) and steals per game (2.4). He also ranks third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2), fourth in scoring (16.2 ppg) and fourth in 3-point field goals per game (2.4).
?Since being held scoreless against Chowan, junior Shamarr Bowden has scored double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 11.2 points and shooting 40.7 percent (11-27) from behind the arc.
SERIES HISTORY
? Monday's game will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Pirates and Chanticleers. ECU leads 4-3, but has lost each of the last two meetings on the road. The Pirates are 3-0 at home against Coastal Carolina.
LAST TIME WE MET
? Kierre Greenwood's jumper with two seconds left gave Coastal Carolina a 59-58 victory over East Carolina at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center last season. After the Pirates took a 56-54 lead on Robert Sampson's 3-pointer, Chad Gray hit 1 of 2 free throws and Mike Holmes made a lay-up to put Coastal ahead 57-56 with 27 seconds left. Corvonn Gaines' lay-up put East Carolina on top 58-57 at the 0:10 mark. The lead changed hands four times in the final minute. Although neither team shot over 50 percent in the second half, they each shot much better than in the first half. ECU shot just 38 percent in the first half, while Coastal Carolina was a woeful 6-30 (20 percent) from the field prior to intermission. In the second stanza, the Pirates again posted a higher shooting percentage than their foe (45.5-44.0). Jontae Sherrod led the Pirates with 19 points, while Gaines added 12 in the loss.
UP NEXT
? East Carolina will return to the court to take on Gardner-Webb inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Thursday, Dec. 22. The Pirates are 1-2 all-time against the Bulldogs.
