Gameday Central: East Carolina vs. Georgia State
December 27, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2013
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SETTING THE SCENE
?East Carolina takes the court for the first time following an eight-day layoff to host Georgia State inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
?The Pirates are looking to start the season 11-3 for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.
?Sunday's game will be the Pirates' final non-conference home game of the season. ECU is 31-6 in non-conference home games since the 2010-11 season.
?ECU has won each of its last four home games and has a record of 6-1 in Greenville this season. Georgia State is 2-6 away from its Atlanta campus with its lone true road victory coming at Conference USA member UTSA, 99-68, on Dec. 22.
?The Pirates enter Sunday's game ranked 17th in the NCAA in scoring averaging with 85.1 points per game, while Georgia State is 77th with 77.8 ppg. Both teams allow approximately 72 points per game and rank 220th (GSU, 72.5) and 228th (ECU, 72.8) in the NCAA in scoring defense.
?Georgia State leads the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game at 8.8 with a turnover margin of plus-five. The Pirates average 11.2 turnovers per game with a plus-1.5 turnover margin.
?Size compares evenly for the Pirates and Panthers. Each team only has one player on its active roster listed at 6-9: Michael Zangari (ECU) and Curtis Washington (GSU). ECU has two additional players listed at 6-7, while GSU has two players at 6-7 and one at 6-8.
?East Carolina has two players that average more than 30 minutes per game: Paris Roberts-Campbell (34.8) and Akeem Richmond (33.2) with three others averaging more than 25 minutes per game. Three players average more than 30 minutes per game for the Panthers with a pair of players averaging over 23 minutes per game.
SERIES HISTORY
?Sunday's game will be the third all-time meeting between ECU and Georgia State with ECU having won each of the previous two matchups.<>
?The Pirates defeated GSU in Atlanta last season, 62-53. Akeem Richmond and Paris Roberts-Campbell combined for 10 points, while departed senior Maurice Kemp led ECU with 16 points.
LAST TIME OUT
?Four players scored double figures lead by senior Akeem Richmond's 23 in a 90-79 loss at NC State on Dec. 21. Caleb White added 14 points, Prince Williams had 12 and Paris Roberts-Campbell scored 11.
?The Pirates built a 38-30 with 6:31 to play in the first half before NC State scored 15 unanswered to take a 45-38 halftime lead. ECU did not lead in the second half.
?The Pirates shot 47 percent and hit 10 3-pointers. NC State shot 58 percent and made seven 3-pointers.
?ECU was limited to a season-low nine free throw attempts, making all nine of their foul shots. NC State was whistled for only nine fouls.
?The Pirates fell to 2-3 this season when scoring less than 80 points.
?NC State dominated play in the paint, outscoring the Pirates 58-26. The Wolfpack shot 66.7 percent inside the 3-point line (32-48).
LOOKING AHEAD
?East Carolina will play its final non-conference game of the season on Thursday, Jan. 2, at Campbell. The Pirates will look for their first win over the Camels since 2010 . Campbell has won three of the last four games in series, including each of the previous two games in Gore Arena.
?The Pirates will return home on Jan. 11 to begin its final Conference USA season against Old Dominion. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum and will be televised locally on WITN.
