Basketball Gameday: American Athletic Conference Championships Quarterfinals
March 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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| East Carolina vs. SMU March 13, 2015 | 12 p.m. EDT XL Center |Hartford, Conn. |
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| HARTFORD, Conn. --- Coming off an overtime win on Thursday afternoon, the East Carolina men's basketball team has quick turnaround against top-seeded SMU on Friday, March 13, at noon inside the XL Center. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.com. The winner of the quarterfinal matchup will advance to the semifinals against either No. 4 Temple or No. 5 Memphis at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. The Pirates lost their only regular season meeting against the Mustangs, 77-54, at Moody Coliseum in Dallas back in January. Terry Whisnant poured in 24 points, matching his career-high, sinking 6 of 11 3-pointers and playing all 40 minutes. Caleb White added 14 points as he buried a trio of 3-pointers, while grabbing five rebounds and distributing a season-high five assists, while Michel Nzege posted his third double-figure rebounding effort of the season, grabbing 10 boards. The Pirates reached the quarterfinals of their conference tournament for the fourth time in five years under coach Jeff Lebo with an 81-80 overtime victory against UCF. The Knights had a shot to take down the Pirates, but Kasey Wilson's jumper bounced off the back iron as time expired. Freshman B.J. Tyson poured in 19 points off the bench to lead the Pirates, while ECU's frontcourt trio of Marshall Guilmette (18), Michel Nzege (13) and Caleb White (13) combined for 44 points with 18 of those coming off 3-pointers from Guilmette and White. The Mustangs enter the contest as the league's outright regular season champion after compiling a 15-3 record. Led by American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year Nic Moore, SMU ranks first in nine conference statistical categories, including scoring offense, rebounding margin and 3-point field goal percentage. Moore ranked fourth in the conference in scoring with 14.4 ppg and second in assists per game with 5.27. Senior Yanick Moreira is the Mustangs' top rebounder with 6.4 boards per contest and was fourth in The American with a .563 field goal percentage. The conference's Sixth Man-of-the-Year Markus Kennedy averaged 6.2 rebounds per game along with 11.8 points.  RADIO / TELEVISIONFans can hear Friday'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 11:30 a.m. Friday 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 Scoreboard link at theamerican.org or by clicking here. MORE ABOUT SMUSMU won The American regular season title after a 67-62 victory over Tulsa on Sunday in Dallas. The title is the 15th regular season crown for the Ponies and the first since 1993 (Southwest Conference). During league play, the Mustangs went 8-1 at home and 7-2 on the road. SMU won seven straight conference road games before the 81-73 loss at Connecticut to match the programs second-longest streak from 1983-84 to 1984-85. SMU is 27-9 in The American under Larry Brown the past two seasons. Markus Kennedy scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and SMU won its first league title in 22 years, rallying past Tulsa 67-62, on Sunday. Nic Moore scored 14 points and had several key baskets and free throws in the second half. Tulsa had a six-point lead early in the second half before Kennedy and Moore brought the Mustangs back. Kennedy had a three-point play that put SMU ahead for good at 44-41. Cannen Cunningham had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Sterling Brown had eight points and eight rebounds. Nic Moore (unanimous first team), Yanick Moreira (second team) and Markus Kennedy (second team) were named to The American all-conference teams. It is back-to-back first-team honors for Moore who leads SMU in scoring and assists, while leading the league in free-throw percentage (.875) and three-point percentage (.429). Kennedy, a second-team honoree last season, averaged 22.4 minutes, 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds off the bench. Moreira is fourth in the conference in shooting (.563) and seventh in blocks (1.3). SERIES HISTORY Firday afternoon's game will represent the 11th all-time meeting between East Carolina and SMU with 10 of those meetings taking place since 2006. SMU holds a 6-4 advantage in the series, but the Pirates have won two of the last three. The Pirates and Mustangs have never met in conference tournament play and have played on a neutral court just once previously (Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky., 1985). The series has gone in shorty cycles since the two became conference rivals in 2006. The teams have alternated back-to-back wins in the series. SMU won the first two meetings as league opponents in 2006 and '07 but ECU won consecutive games in '08 and '09. The Mustangs won the matchups in '10 and '11, then the Pirates claimed victory in '12 and '13 but the series took a year off in 2014. 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 Friday's game live on ESPNU, by visiting WatchESPN.com and following the appropriate links or 
