Gameday: Pirates Face Virginia For First Time In Almost A Half Century

Game 10: East Carolina vs. Virginia
Date	Tuesday, December 6
Time	7 p.m. (ET)
Location	Charlottesville, Va. (John Paul Jones Arena)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Listen Live \\\ ACC Network Extra
Game Notes	East Carolina \\\ Virginia
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUPirateHoops

The East Carolina men's basketball team visits No. 12/14 Virginia Tuesday, Dec. 6, in only its second true road game of the season. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South and other select regional sports networks. It will also be streamed on the ACC Digital Network Extra.

Tuesday's game will be the first meeting between the border state foes since 1968.

The Pirates enter the game winners of three in a row, while Virginia is coming off its first home loss in nearly two years which ended a 24-game home winning streak.
Virginia was held to 57 points by West Virginia Saturday and have scored just 120 points combined in their last two, and ECU has surrender more than 70 points only twice. The Pirates are averaging more than 44 rebounds per game and out-rebounding their opponents by more than 10 per game, ranking them in the top-10 nationally in both categories.

ECU is led by senior Caleb White, who is averaging 15.0 points and 3.1 3-point field goals per game this season. White has dropped 20 on four opponents this season, including this past Saturday against North Carolina Central. He is the sixth-leading scorer in school history.

Junior B.J. Tyson and sophomore Kentrell Barkley are also averaging double figures scoring. Seven-foot-1 center Andre Washington leads ECU with 8.4 rebounds per game.

Senior London Perrantes is the lone Cavalier to average double figures scoring with 10.0 ppg. As a team, Virginia leads the nation in scoring defense and ranks eighth in scoring margin.

NEWS & NOTES

At 7-2, the Pirates are off to their best start since the 2013-14 campaign when they also opened the season with a 7-2 record.
ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo and Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett are facing off for the second time. Lebo's Auburn squad defeated Bennett's first Virginia team down on the plains Dec. 7, 2009. Lebo is 2-1 against the Cavaliers as a head coach, including a win at John Paul Jones Arena on Dec. 20, 2008 as Auburn defeated Dave Leitao's Cavaliers, 58-56.
The Pirates have opened the season by out-rebounding each of their first nine opponents. It's the longest such streak for the program since winning the battle of the boards in 10 consecutive games from Dec. 20, 1999 - Jan. 22, 2000.
ECU will be seeking its first win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 30, 2002 when it defeated then-No. 13 Marquette led by Dwyane Wade. It is also shooting for its first-ever road win over a ranked team.
The Pirates have three players returning to the commonwealth to play Tuesday night: freshman Jeremy Sheppard (Richmond), graduate Andre Washington (Rocky Mount) and senior Caleb White (Buckingham).
A graduate transfer from Wake Forest, Washington played in one game against Virginia during his three years with the Demon Deacons. As a sophomore in 2014, he grabbed two rebounds and blocked two shots in 12 minutes of action at the JPJ.
White is averaging over three made 3-pointers per game this season. He needs two to surpass his coach's career total of 211 3-pointers during his playing days at North Carolina.
Junior B.J. Tyson joined the Pirates' 1,000-point club Saturday, becoming the 28th player in school history to reach the millennial mark. He is only fourth player to reach the milestone as a junior (since freshmen were allowed to compete in 1972). He also became the seventh player in the brief history of the American Athletic Conference to score 1,000 points.
Freshman Jeremy Sheppard was named American Athletic Conference Rookie-of-the-Week for the week ending Dec. 4. He averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in helping the Pirates to two wins over Hampton and NC Central. After starting the season 2-for-9 shooting, Sheppard has made 12-of-19 field goal attempts the last four games. Sheppard posted double digit points for the first time in his career with 13 Saturday against NC Central after netting nine versus Hampton. He had over a 3:1 assist:turnover ratio (11 assists, three turnovers) in last week's pair of games.

Gameday: Pirates Face Virginia For First Time In Almost A Half Century

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Players Mentioned

Kentrell Barkley

Jeremy Sheppard

B.J. Tyson

Andre Washington

Caleb White

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