ECU Faces UCF In First Round Of The American Championships
March 11, 2015 | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2015
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| East Carolina vs. UCF March 12, 2015 | 3:30 p.m. EDT XL Center |Hartford, Conn. |
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| HARTFORD, Conn. --- East Carolina opens play at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship tournament Thursday as the eighth-seeded Pirates take on the ninth-seed UCF at 3:30 EDT at the XL Center. The game will be televised on ESPNU with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals to face No. 1 seed SMU Friday at noon. The Pirates swept the regular season series from UCF, winning by 18, 67-49, at home and five on the road, 71-66, 12 days ago. Caleb White averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game against the Knights, while B.J. Tyson and Terry Whisnant each scored approximately 11 points per contest. East Carolina scored an average of 69 points in the two games, while holding the Knights to 57.5. The Pirates arguably played their most complete game of the season in their road performance against UCF. ECU shot over 57 percent from the field and better than 43 percent behind the arc, putting four players in double figures and out-scoring the Knights in the paint by 14. White led the Pirates with 14 points, Antonio Robinson had a season-high 13 points and distributed eight assists as ECU topped 70 points on the road for the only time this season. Tyson also had 11 points off the bench and Terry Whisnant added 11, including a 3-pointer with 1:04 to play that put ECU ahead for good. Tyson, a unanimous choice for the conference's all-rookie team, is tied with Whisnant for the team in scoring as each average 12.5 ppg. White is also averaging more than 12 points per game (12.2 ppg), making ECU the only team in The American with three players in the top-15 in scoring. Tyson has gotten to the free throw line (141) and made more free throws (103) than any other player on the team, while Whisnant and White have combined for 133 3-pointers this season, the most by any duo in The American. UCF is led by a pair of all-rookie team performers, Adonys Henriquez and B.J. Taylor. Taylor finished the regular season 12th in the league in scoring and was second behind Tyson among freshmen with 12.48 ppg. He scored in double figures 16 times and led the Knights in scoring nine times. Henriquez ranks in the top 10 in the league in 3-point percentage, 3-pointers per game and minutes per game. The Pirates are 4-4 in conference tournament play under coach Jeff Lebo and won their opening round game three times during his tenure, including a victory over UCF in the first round of the 2011 Conference USA Championship.  RADIO / TELEVISIONFans can hear Thursday'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 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. 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 follow live stats by clicking the GameTracker link at ECUPirates.com or by clicking here.  MORE ABOUT UCFThe Knights enter the tournament on a four-game losing streak after winning three in a row. UCF lost at home to Memphis 75-65 in overtime, fell on the road to Cincinnati 83-60, dropped a 71-66 bout to visiting East Carolina and finally lost 74-45 at USF on March 4. In the inaugural American Athletic Conference Tournament a season ago, ninth seeded UCF won its first round game, topping eighth seeded Temple 94-90 in double overtime before falling to top-seeded Cincinnati in the quarterfinals. Sophomore Brandon Goodwin has stepped up his game as a sophomore, improving his scoring average from 3.0 ppg to 10.2 ppg, which is 22nd in the league. He also leads the Knights and ranks fifth in the AAC with 4.1 assists per game. Junior Staphon Blair is UCF's leading rebounder with 5.3 rebounds per game and has 35 dunks on the season. The Knights are second in The American with a .348 three-point field goal percentage and rank third with 6.7 threes made per game. SERIES HISTORY Thursday afternoon's game will represent the 23rd all-time meeting between East Carolina and UCF with 21 of those meetings taking place since 2006. UCF holds a 14-8 advantage in the series, but the Pirates have won seven of the last 10. East Carolina and UCF have met twice previously in the first round of conference tournament play. The Knights posted 65-52 win over the Pirates at the 2006 Conference USA Championships before ECU recorded a 75-60 win at the 2011 C-USA tournament. The Pirates lost the first nine meetings in the series, which began in Orlando in 2000, but have won eight of the 13 meetings since. Coach Jeff Lebo has is 6-3 against the Knights on the ECU sidelines. STAY CONNECTED Fans can receive the latest news and notes by following @ECUPirateHoopson Twitter. Fans also can discuss the latest ECU Men's Basketball news and notes on the team's Facebook page by clicking LIKEat East Carolina Men's Basketball.
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Fans can watch Thursday's game live on ESPNU, by visiting WatchESPN.com and following the appropriate links or 
