Basketball Gameday: vs. USF
February 20, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2015
 vs.  |
| East Carolina vs. USF Feb. 21, 2015 | 11 a.m. EST Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum |Greenville, N.C. |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. --- There's no place like home.
After consecutive road losses to two of the top three teams in The American, East Carolina returns to the familiar surroundings of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Saturday morning at take on USF, who posted a 58-50 victory over the Pirates on Jan. 3 in Tampa.
East Carolina has won three straight at home and owns a 10-3 overall record here, including wins over Cincinnati and Memphis.
"Most teams are different at home, but we've been one that's real different," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "We have a South Florida team that's coming in playing well. They took Tulsa to overtime up in Tulsa recently. They're hungry and they're young, but we have to play better."
Their also coming off their second conference win of the season Wednesday night,a 69-67 win over Houston at home.
The Pirates have held each of their last three opponents at home to less than 55 points and has yielded an average of 60.1 ppg this season, while scoring 71.5 themselves at the friendly confines.
The one player that has statistically performed better at home more than any other is Caleb White. In front of the Pirate Nation he's averaging 13.5 points per game and shooting nearly 50 percent (.491) from the field. While on the road his scoring average is just below 10 ppg (9.8).
However, White is coming off one of his best road games of the year, scoring 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 4 outside the arc, Wednesday at Tulsa. He currently ranks third on the team in scoring with 12.0 ppg.
"He shot the ball better and he came out with the right mindset offensively which was very aggressive," Lebo said. "I had to talk to him about still being aggressive (after missing his first two shots). He's a very conscientious kid that thinks he's hurting the team, when actually he's hurting the team when he doesn't play that aggressive."
Junior Terry Whisnant (13.0 ppg) leads freshman B.J. Tyson (12.7 ppg) by eight points for the team's scoring. Combined with White, the trio forms the highest-scoring threesome in The American with 37.7 ppg. They combined for 42 points at Tulsa.
Tyson, the reigning American Rookie-of-the-Week, led the Pirates with 15 points against USF during the season's first meeting. Whisnant and White each made two 3s in the game as Whisnant finished with 11 points.
"These are the game's that you worry about how your team will come out and play," Lebo stated. "We've got to come out ready; we've got to come hungry; we've got to come out with energy and enthusiasm.
"We've got to cut down on turnovers ... We've had halves where because of our turnovers we've let teams get big leads. We can't have those pick six turnovers like we've had in the past. It's important how we start in this game. The play of our inside guys has to be better and has to be more consistent."
The inside game revolves around Marshall Guilmette, Michel Nzege and Michael Zangari. Nzege leads the Pirates with 5.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 61.7 percent from the floor. The trio averages 12.2 points per game.
Senior Antonio Robinson is the team's floor general. He leads the Pirates with 3.4 assists per game and third in the conference with 1.7 steals per night. He's the only one of the 11 American Athletic Conference starting point guards to have more steals (44) than turnovers (40) this season.
RADIO / TELEVISIONFans can hear Saturday'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 10:30 a.m.
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 Wednesday's game live on ESPNU with Jason Benetti calling the play-by-play and former Providence coach Tim Welsh providing analysis.
Fans can follow live stats by clicking the GameTracker link at ECUPirates.com or by clicking here.
ABOUT USF- USF owns an 8-19 overall record and a 2-12 record in The American. The Bulls currently sit in 10th place in the conference standings.
- Senior guard Corey Allen, Jr. ranks second in the league in scoring with 15.0 points per game.
- Anthony Collins is second in the conference and 46th in the nation with 5.0 assists per game.
- USF ranks 34th in the nation and third in the conference with 5.0 blocks per game. The Bulls had eight blocks in their first meeting of the season with East Carolina.
- USF is 0-7 on the road in conference play this season and 1-10 overall. It's lone road win was a 73-71 overtime victory at UAB.
SERIES HISTORY
The Pirates and Bulls will be facing off for the ninth time Saturday morning with USF holding a 5-3 series advantage and having won five in a row. The Pirates are 2-2 at home against the Bulls with a 68-62 double overtime victory back on Jan. 25, 2003 in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
ECU and USF met five times as Conference USA opponents before the Bulls moved to the Big East. The two teams then played a home-and-home series as non-conference opponents in 2006 and '07 before renewing their conference rivalry this past January.
GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
- The first 250 students get a FREE breakfast burrito.
- "Bring Your 'A' Game" Ticket promotion - youth ages 12 and under can bring a report card with an "A" grade in any subject on it to receive a free ticket with a paid adult.
- Faculty/Staff Appreciation - ECU faculty/staff can get $5 tickets through by clicking here for the game Saturday.
- Special Olympics basketball teams from Greenville will be playing at halftime.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive the latest news and notes by following @ECUPirateHoops on Twitter. Fans also can discuss the latest ECU Men's Basketball news and notes on the team's Facebook page by clicking LIKE at East Carolina Men's Basketball.
