East Carolina University
SMU
Gameday Preview: SMU at East Carolina
December 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball
| Game 15: East Carolina vs. SMU | |
| Date | Saturday, December 31 |
| Time | 12 p.m. (ET) |
| Location | Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum) |
| Television | American Sports Network | Find Your Station |
| SiriusXM | Sirius 137 | XM 204 | Internet 964 |
| Web Coverage | Live Stats \\\ Listen Live \\\ ESPN3 |
| Game Notes | East Carolina \\\ SMUÂ \\\ The American |
| Social Media | Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUPirateHoops |
After opening conference play with a victory for the first time in eight years, East Carolina will look to start league play with back-to-back wins for the first time since the 1999-00 campaign Saturday when it host SMU for a New Year's Eve matinee starting at 12 noon.
The game will be broadcast across the American Sports Network and will be televised throughout eastern North Carolina on MyWITN 7.2 as well as streamed on ESPN3. The game can be heard along the Pirate-IMG Sports Network and on SiriusXM.
ECU and SMU each opened league with a win earlier this week as the Pirates ran past USF, 60-49, and the Mustangs picked up their first road win of the season with a 58-54 victory over Memphis Tuesday.
SMU has won seven straight entering the contest, while the Pirates have won eight of nine at home this season.
Both teams rank among the top defensive teams in the country. The Pirates are eighth overall in field goal percent defense and 16th in scoring defense, while SMU is 12th in scoring defense and 32nd in field goal percent defense.
The Mustangs are out-rebounding their opponent by 11.6 boards per game. Ben Moore (7.7 rpg) and Semi Ojeleye (7.5 rpg) rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in The American in rebounding with Sterling Brown (6.6 rpg) ranking 14th.
Ojeleye, a transfer from Duke, leads SMU with 18.0 points per game, which puts him third in the conference. Shake Milton is second on the team with 11.8 points per game, while Brown and Moore are averaging 11.0 ppg each.
ECU opened the season by out-rebounding each of its first nine opponents and 10 of 14 overall. The Pirates haven't allowed any team to shoot better than 40 percent against them at home this season and only permitted one team to score more than 60 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
The Pirates' scoring trio of Caleb White, B.J. Tyson and Kentrell Barkley are averaging a combined 36.0 points per game and ECU is 4-0 when they each score double figures this season.
Graduate transfer Andre Washington ranks fifth in The American with 7.8 rebounds per game and Barkley is tied with Brown for 14th at 6.6 boards per contest.
 East Carolina will look to snap a four-game losing streak to the Mustangs, who lead the all-time series, 9-4.
