Basketball Gameday: vs. Memphis
February 10, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2015
 vs.  |
| East Carolina at Memphis Feb. 10, 2015 | 7 p.m. EST Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum |Greenville, N.C. |
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GREENVILLE,N.C. --- East Carolina has won two straight games at home and will look to make it three in a row Tuesday night as it host American Athletic Conference foe Memphis inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum at 7 p.m.
The Pirates held each of their last two home opponents to less than 50 points and didn't allow either Cincinnati or UCF to shoot over 40 percent, while forcing the Bearcats and Knights into a combined 29 turnovers.
Although, ECU has the top 3-point shooting team in The American since the onset of conference play, it was the Pirates ability to get buckets inside the paint that helped them to win their last two home games and outscore their opponents by a combined total of 70-50.
ECU, which has the league's top 3-point field goal defense, limited UC and UCF to a combined 5 of 34 outside the arc with both teams posting their lowest 3-point percentage of the season.
Tuesday, the Pirates will face a team with a similar defensive prowess as Memphis ranks third in The American, holding opponents to 30.1 percent shooting outside the arc.
When the two teams met 14 days agao, East Carolina made 13 of 27 3-pointers, led by Terry Whisnant's 5 of 7 shooting performance outside the arc, but the hommestanding Tigers claimed a 70-58 win.
East Carolina trailed by four, 62-58, with 3:50 left, but didn't score again as the Tigers put up the final eight points.
Whisnant leads the Pirates with over 13 points per game with Caleb White and freshman B.J. Tyson averaging slightly more than 12 points per game. As a trio the unit is averaging just a shade under 38 points per game, third-highest scoring threesome in The American.
Tyson was named the conference's Rookie-of-the-Week for the third time this season Monday after averaging 15.o points and 4.5 rebounds in a pair of games last week. He currently ranks as the second-highest scoring freshman in the league and is tops among all rookies in free throw percentage.
White is coming off a 21-point, nine-rebound performance against UCF on Saturday, while Michael Zangari reached double figures for the first time since November with 10 points in the game.
RADIO / TELEVISIONFans can hear Tuesday's game live on the flagship station of the ECU Pirates, WNCT 107.9 FM, with Jeff Charles calling the action and Si Seymour providing analysis. The pregame show begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Fans also can hear the radio broadcast online by visiting ECUPirates.com and following the appropriate links to Pirates On Demand or by clicking here. A Pirates On Demand subscription is required to listen to the game online.
Fans can watch Saturday's game live on WatchESPN.com with Chris Cotter calling the play-by-play and Jon Crispin providing analysis by clicking here.
Fans can follow live stats by clicking the GameTracker link at ECUPirates.com or by clicking here.
ABOUT MEMPHIS- Memphis has won 12 of its last 18 entering Tuesday's American Athletic Conference match-up at East Carolina. The Tigers have a 14-9 overall record and 6-4 in the league.
- Memphis returns two starters and only five letterwinners from last year's squad.
- The Tigers are in the top-two in The American in rebound margin (2nd; +5.5), blocked shots (1st; 6.9) and steals (1st; 7.3).
- The Tigers are second in the conference in offensive rebounds (12.7) and fifth in the league in defensive rebounds (25.2).
- Memphis will be without the services of its leading scorer Austin Nichols Tuesday due to an injury suffered in Saturday's game against Temple.
- In the last 18 contests from Dec. 6-Feb. 7, the Tigers averaged 15.3 assists per game. In its first five games, Memphis averaged only 10.0 assists per contest.
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game marks the 19th meeting between the schools since the series began in 2003 as Conference USA foes. ECU joined C-USA for the 2001-02 season, but didn't face the Tigers during its inaugural season.
The Tigers won the first nine meetings in the series before ECU broke through with a 68-57 win on March 2, 2011 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum behind 28 points from Jontae Sherrod.
ECU is just 1-6 against the Tigers at home.
STAY CONNECTED
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