Pirates Look To End Five-Game Slide Against Surging Tulsa
January 18, 2016 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Looking to snap a season-long five game losing streak, East Carolina host surging Tulsa Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in an American Athletic Conference game.
The Pirates (8-10, 0-5 American) have not won since the 98-71 victory over South Carolina State on Dec. 22 to close out non-conference play. The Golden Hurricane (11-6, 3-2 American) has won three in row, which began two weeks ago with its 55-43 win over ECU.
Rashad Smith scored 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting with nine rebounds for Tulsa, while Rashad Ray added 11 points with three 3-pointers as the Hurricane led 37-14 at halftime, holding the Pirates to 6 of 33 (.182) shooting prior to intermission. Senior guard Shaq Harrison had four points and James Woodard did not play.
Freshman Kentrell Barkley was the only Pirate to score double figures with 10 points off the bench. The Pirates were held to 29.8 percent shooting from the floor and just 2 of 16 from beyond the arc. B.J. Tyson was held to eight points on 4-of-13 shooting, while Caleb White was limited to seven points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Tulsa has held each of its previous three opponents to 67 points or less, while East Carolina hasn't topped 70 points during conference play. The Pirates are 1-9 when scoring fewer than 70 points this season.
The Golden Hurricane is surrendering 68.2 ppg and East Carolina is scoring 68.7 ppg.Tulsa leads The American with plus-3.53 turnover margin and is one of three teams in the league to average more than seven steals per game.
B.J. Tyson leads the Pirates with 14.4 points per game, adding 5.3 rebounds, and Caleb White averages 14.1 points, 2.3 assists and 2.5 3-pointers per outing. Kentrell Barkley puts up 9.2 points and leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest and is the only freshman to rank among the league leaders in rebounds and assists.
Tulsa's backcourt combo of Woodard and Harrison rank two and three in The American in scoring with each player averaging more than 16 points per game.
The Golden Hurricane has won five in a row in the series and holds an overall advantage of 14-2 with four straight wins in Greenville. The Pirates haven't beaten Tulsa at home since their initial visit in 2006.
| Game 19: Tulsa | |
| Date | Tuesday, Jan. 19 |
| Time | 7 p.m. |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum) |
| Tickets | Buy Tickets |
| Live Game Coverage |  TV/Online: ESPNEWS/WatchESPN  Radio: WNCT 107.9 FM | ECU Pirates On Demand (Listen Live) TuneIn Radio Online (within the app search ECU or Pirate IMG Sports Network) |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| Game Notes | East Carolina  | Tulsa |
| @ECUScoreboard | |
