ECU Set To Challenge Southern Miss
February 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2011
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| THE MATCHUP |
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| Category | East Carolina | Southern Miss | |
| W-L | 13-12, 5-6 | 19-6, 8-4 | |
| Avg. Points | 68.9 | 75.8 | |
| Avg. Points Allowed | 66.9 | 65.9 | |
| Rebound Margin | -1.8 | +8.0 | |
| Field Goal Percentage | .434 | .454 | |
| FG Percent Defense | .432 | .415 | |
| 3-Point Percentage | .353 | .360 | |
| Free Throw Percentage | .687 | .729 | |
| Turnover Margin | -0.2 | +1.8 | |
| TEAM STAT LEADERS |
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| Points | J. Sherrod- 15.1 | G. Flowers - 19.6 | |
| Rebounds | D. Morrow - 5.2 | G. Flowers - 7.4 | |
| Assists | B. Young - 4.4 | A. Johnson - 4.3 | |
| Blocks | D. Morales - 0.9 | G. Flowers - 1.8 | |
| Steals | C. Gaines - 1.5 | A. Johnson - 1.2 | |
Three weeks ago East Carolina hosted Southern Miss riding the momentum of back-to-back road wins over UCF and Marshall and entered the game with a 3-3 Conference USA record. USM also owned a 3-3 mark, but was coming off consecutive losses at SMU and Memphis. Both streaks ended that evening with the Golden Eagles claiming an 84-77 win.
That was the start of a four-game winning streak by the Golden Eagles (19-6, 8-4 C-USA), who have won five of their last six, and climbed into a tie for third-place in Conference USA. The loss was the first of four in the last six for ECU (13-12, 5-6), which is tied with Marshall for seventh.
East Carolina will look reverse the trend started by Southern Miss Saturday in Hattiesburg.
The Pirates have lost four in-a-row in the series and have only two wins in 11 meetings since Larry Eustachy arrived at Southern Miss.
East Carolina shot over 50 percent from the field last time against Southern Miss, going 22-of-43 from the floor. However, the Pirates have failed to shoot over 40 percent in the four of the five games since.
"We have a hard time manufacturing anything easy," Pirate coach Jeff Lebo said. "Nothing comes easy for us and it's just frustrating. When we do get an offensive rebound we can't finish it. We make easy plays look hard at times."
The Pirates are coming off their worst Conference USA defeat Wednesday against Tulsa, 86-67. Senior Jonate Sherrod led the Pirates with 11 points, while Darrius Morrow added 10.
Morrow led the Pirates with 18 points against the Golden Eagles earlier this season with Sherrod netting 16 points. It was one of only two losses this season when the duo combines for 27 or more points (8-2). The inside-out combo has combined to lead the Pirates with an average of 27.3 points per game and combined to lead ECU in scoring 19 times this season.
The Golden Eagles are looking for their fourth straight win at Reed Green Coliseum, where they are 11-1 this season. The only blemish on their home record is a one-point loss to Memphis.
Conference USA Player-of-the-Year candidate Gary Flowers has led the Golden Eagles each of the last two meetings with the Pirates. Flowers scored 17 back in January and had 14 in Hattiesburg last season. Flowers ranks second in the league in scoring (19.6 ppg) and among the top 10 in five additional categories.
Southern Miss is the top scoring team in the conference at 75.8 points per game and has the largest rebounding margin at +8.0. ECU has been out-rebounding by 20 in each of the last two games.
