ECU Host UNCW Looking To Extend and Break Streaks
December 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - The East Carolina men's basketball team will look to extend one winning streak and end another Wednesday night when it host instate rival UNCW at 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Falling victim to their rival each of the last two games, the Pirates are seeking their first win over the Seahawks since 2008 and first win in Greenville against them in nearly a decade (Dec. 31, 2005).
Newly appointed ECU Head Football Coach Scottie Montgomery will be on hand to take in the game and will be introduced to the crowd at halftime.
The Pirates stretched their non-conference unbeaten streak at home to 10 games Sunday with a 71-60 win over North Carolina A&T. East Carolina is 5-0 at home this season winning four of those games by double digits with a quartet of players averaging double figures led by B.J. Tyson (15.2) and Caleb White (14.8).
Tyson scored 21 points against the Aggies on Sunday after pouring in a career-high 26 in the Pirates' previous home game versus USC Upstate. The Anson, N.C. native who scored just 31 points in the first four games is averaging more than 18 points per game over the last six and shooting 62.7 percent from the field.
Another Pirate that has come out of his shell recently is freshman Kentrell Barkley, who leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game and ranks third in scoring (10.7) and minutes played (23.9). He's scored double figures in three straight games, averaging 17 points and 8.6 rebounds, and was named The American Rookie-of-the-Week on Monday.
East Carolina will look to get out of the gates quickly and avoid any sustained droughts. In each of their four losses, ECU shot under 35 percent in the first half and scored 26 or fewer points.
UNCW, who suffered its first loss of the season Saturday at Georgetown, has led at the intermission in four of their six games this season and are undefeated when doing so. The Seahawks are playing just its third road game of the year. The Seahawks posted a 93-73 win at East Tennessee State after opening the season with three consecutive home victories and then defeated Coker to move to 5-0.
Senior Chris Flemmings leads a trio of Seahawks in double figures with 15.0 points per game followed by Craig Ponder (13.2) and Denzel Ingram (10.4). The threesome has paced the UNCW offense to the 10th highest per game output this season with more than 87 points per game.
However, it's the defense that has UNCW off and running, leading the nation in turnover margin (+9.2) and ranking second in steals per game (11.5). The Seahawks have held three of their six opponents under 36 percent shooting and allowed only Western Michigan to shoot better than 50 percent.
| Game 10: UNCW | |
| Date | Wednesday, Dec. 16 |
| Time | 7 p.m. EST |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage |  Online: ESPN3  Radio: WNCT 107.9FM | ECU Pirates On Demand (Listen Live) TuneIn Radio Online (within the app search ECU or Pirate IMG Sports Network)
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| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | UNCW |
| @ECUScoreboard | |
