Basketball Gameday: vs. Temple
March 05, 2015 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2015
 vs.  |
| East Carolina vs. Temple March 5, 2015 | 7 p.m. EST Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum |Greenville, N.C. |
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GREENVILLE, N.C. --- East Carolina will close out its 2014-15 home schedule Thursday night against Temple, saying goodbye to its three seniors: Paris Roberts-Campbell, Francis Edosomwan and Antonio Robinson, who will be playing their final home game.
The game will be televised live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. EST.
The Pirates are coming off arguably their most complete game of the season Saturday, defeating UCF for their first road win of the season, 71-66. 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.
Caleb 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 first time this season. B.J. 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.
The trio of Tyson, Whisnant and White have scored double figures together three times in the last four games with ECU winning two of those three games. As a threesome they average 37.6 ppg, second-highest scoring trio in the conference.
Tyson, a candidate for The American Athletic Conference Sixth Man and Rookie-of-the-Year, leads East Carolina with 12.8 ppg with Whisnant (12.6 ppg) and White (12.2 ppg) also averaging more than 12 points per game, making ECU the only team in The American with three players in the top-15 in scoring.
Whisnant was the only Pirate to score double digits in the first meeting of the year with Temple as the Owls posted a 66-53 victory on Valentine's Day. The Owls held East Carolina to just 35.2 percent shooting and out-rebounded it by 23, 49-26. Despite a poor first half shooting performance in which they shot less than 27 percent, the Pirates rallied to win the second half, drilling 7 of 15 3-point attempts and shoot 43 percent from the field.
A win would secure the No. 7 seed for ECU in next week's conference tournament.
Will Cummings leads the Owls with 13.8 ppg and leads The American with 2.0 steals per game. In the first meeting against ECU, he had 17 points, six assists and two steals. Jesse Morgan added 14 points and Josh Brown scored 10.
Six-foot-8, 240-pound forward Jaylen Bond leads the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game and brought down 17 against the Pirates on Feb. 14. The Owls are the top rebounding in the league with 38.1 boards per game with a conference-best 12.6 offensive rebounds per game.
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 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening.
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 Thursday's game live on ESPNU, by visiting WatchESPN.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here with John Brickley calling the play-by-play and Tim McCormick providing analysis.
Fans can follow live stats by clicking the GameTracker link at ECUPirates.com or by clicking here.
MORE ABOUT TEMPLEThe Owls reached the 20-win mark for a seventh time in head coach Fran Dunphy's nine seasons, defeating Houston 66-54 in their most recent game on Feb. 26. They enter Thursday night's contest with an overall record of 20-9 and 11-5 in The American.
Temple snapped a two-game losing streak with its win over Houston. The Owls had won seven straight prior to the two-game setback, losing 67-58 at SMU on Feb. 19 and 55-39 at Tulsa on Feb. 22. Over the seven-game win streak, which was Temple's longest of the season, the Owls averaged 68.1 ppg while holding opponents to an average of just 52.4 ppg.
The Owls, which currently rank 40th in the NCAA RPI, have three players that average double figures. In addition to Cummings, who ranks seventh in the league in scoring, Quenton Decosey is averaging 12.2 ppg and Jesse Morgan is averaging 11.9 ppg.
Temple's defense, which allowed 78.1 ppg last season, is holding opponents to just 59.9 ppg so far this year. That improvement of 17.8 ppg currently ranks first among all Division I teams this season.
With 11 more wins in 2014-15 than 2013-14, Temple is currently tied for the third-biggest improvement in Division I.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night's game will mark Temple's first visit to East Carolina in basketball after the Pirates made their first-ever visit to Temple three weeks ago, which represents the only previous meeting between the two institutions.
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.
