Basketball Gameday: at Memphis
January 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2015
 vs.  |
| East Carolina at Memphis Jan. 28, 2015 | 9 p.m. EST FedExForum |Memphis, Tenn. |
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MEMPHIS - Having just missed its opportunity to hand Tulsa its first conference loss of the season Saturday, East Carolina has another chance to pull off the upset Wednesday night as it visits the FedExForum to take on Memphis.
The Pirates will have the formidable task of taking down the Tigers at home, where they are 85-6 in league home games since 2006.
ECU had the chance to earn its second conference win of the season Saturday, but couldn't finish off the Golden Hurricane. After Michel Nzege's dunk tied the game at 61 with 2:09 to play, TU scored five straight points at the free throw line to put the game away. The Pirates had two chances to tie or take the lead, but were unable to overtake them. Tulsa outscored the Pirates at the free throw line, 20-6.
"The difference was (Tulsa's) ability to get to the foul line," Lebo said. "We knew they were going to take it to the rim. We knew they were going to attack us inside. That's what people are going to try to do us."
Memphis will certainly try to take it inside against the Pirates as its top three scorers are 6-foot-8 or bigger. Sophomore Austin Nichols, last year's American Athletic Conference Rookie-of-the-Year, leads the Tigers with 12.7 ppg and 6.1 rebounds per game. He's also blocked a conference-best 62 shots.
Twelve players average more than 11 minutes per game with five players averaging more than seven points per contest.
"They are balanced and they have one of the top players in the country in Austin Nichols," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "They lost four seniors guards from last year, so they are playing a lot of different people, but they are a very talented team.
Most of the Pirates' offensive production comes from its backcourt trio of B.J. Tyson. Terry Whisnant and Caleb White. They rank as the second-highest scoring trio in the conference, but haven't all scored in double figures together since the Pirates win over Houston.
Whisnant is shooting nearly 50 percent (.488) behind the arc in conference play for the Pirates, who lead the league with 8.75 3s per game against American conference foes.
The Pirates' outside attack will be met by the conference's top 3-point defense. The Tigers are holding their opponents to 27.0 percent shooting outside the arc.
ECU is 0-6 all-time against the Tigers at the FedExForum and has beaten the Tigers just once in 15 all-time meetings.
