Basketball Gameday: vs. Houston
January 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
 vs.  |
| East Carolina vs. Houston Jan. 14, 2015 | 7 p.m. EST Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum | Greenville, N.C. |
 Watch |  Gametracker |  Game Notes |  Tickets |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Setting The Scene
? The East Carolina Pirates will play their first of only two home games during the month of January on Wednesday when they square off with the Houston Cougars for the first of two meetings this season. The Pirates are 6-2 at home this season, while the Cougars are 1-3 on the road. Each team is searching for its first American Athletic Conference win of the year. ECU enters the contest on a three-game slide, while Houston has lost four in a row.
?ECU is coming off an eight-day layoff following its loss at Cincinnati on Tuesday, Jan. 6. B.J. Tyson scored 13 points and Terry Whisnant added 11 in the 69-48 loss to the Bearcats. Houston is coming off a 62-44 loss to Memphis on Sunday.
?East Carolina has won the last two meetings at home against the Cougars, both under coach Lebo, posting an 89-78 win in 2013 and a 74-70 victory in 2011.
?The Pirates are the only team in The American with three players in the top 15 in the conference in scoring. B.J. Tyson (13.3 ppg) ranks 10th followed by Terry Whisnant (12.8 ppg) in 13th and Caleb White (12.5 ppg) in 14th.
?Junior Terry Whisnant has the longest active double figures scoring streak on the team at four games. He's averaged 12.75 ppg during that stretch with his high-game being 17 points against UNCG. He's scored double figures in seven of the last eight games and in 12 of 16 games overall this season.
?Senior Paris Roberts-Campbell needs one made 3 to move into sole possession of ninth-place on the school's all-time list and nine to move into a three-way tie for seventh with 151. He enters the Houston game with 142 career 3-pointers. Twice in ECU history a player has made eight 3s in a game against the Cougars (Sam Hinnant, 2008; Darrell Jenkins, 2007).
?Freshman Lance Tejada has made a trio of 3-pointers the last two games after making just nine in the first 15 contests. .
East Carolina-Houston Connections
?Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson is a North Carolina native, raised in Pembroke. Sampson is a childhood friend of ECU Head Football Coach Ruffin McNeil, who was raised in nearby Lumberton.
Series History
? Each of the previous 12 games in the series occurred while the Pirates and Cougars were members of Conference USA. Houston leads the all-time series 8-4.
? The Pirates are 4-3 against the Cougars in Greenville.
Coming Up
? After Wednesday night's game, the Pirates will head to Dallas to take on SMU for the only time this season Saturday. It'll be the second meeting between former North Carolina lettermen Jeff Lebo and Larry Brown. Lebo played professionally under Brown for the San Antonio Spurs during the 1989-90 season.
