Gameday Preview: East Carolina at SMU

Game 23: East Carolina at SMU
Date	Wednesday, Feb. 1
Time	9:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. CT
Location	Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
Television	ESPNEWS
Web Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Listen Live \\\ WatchESPN
Game Notes	East Carolina \\\ SMU
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUPirateHoops

DALLAS – East Carolina is back on the road this week as it travels to the Lone Star state for an American Athletic Conference affair with second-place SMU Wednesday at 8:30 (CT) inside Moody Coliseum.

The Pirates (10-12, 2-7 American), who are seeking their first true road win of the season, will look to snap the Mustangs' 17-game home winning streak that includes a 13-0 mark this year. Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Mustangs (18-4, 8-1) have lost just four home games at the renovated Moody Coliseum, a place since ECU hasn't won since 2012.

SMU has won five in a row against East Carolina and leads the all-time series 10-4. The Mustangs posted their largest win in the 14-game series earlier this season with a 75-44 win on New Year's Eve. SMU's Ben Moore and Sterling Brown each posted a double-double. Moore had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Brown added 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as well as the Mustangs won the rebounding battle, 52-24.

Kentrell Barkley had 13 points and Elijah Hughes had 10 for the Pirates.

ECU is coming off a 57-50 loss at Memphis Saturday, where they held the Tigers to just 19 first-half points but squandered their first halftime lead of the year. Barkley and freshman Jeremy Sheppard had 13 points apiece.

With the game tied at 30-30, Memphis went on a 22-10 run to take a 12-point lead with 5:21 to play, all but securing victory for itself.

SMU has won four in a row, but hasn't played in a week last winning at UCF, 65-60, a week ago. Duke transfer Semi Ojeleye leads a foursome of Mustangs in double figures with 17.7 points per game followed by Shake Milton (13.5), Ben Moore (11.9) and Sterling Brown (11.2).

Barkley (11.6 ppg) and senior Caleb White (10.6 ppg) are each averaging double figures for East Carolina.

NEWS & NOTES

Wednesday's game will be Pirates' assistant coach Michael Perry's fourth game as acting head coach during ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo's leave of absence following hip surgery on Jan. 16. There is no timetable for Lebo's return. Perry is in his 10th season as an assistant coach at East Carolina. He joined the Pirate coaching staff following 4+ years as head coach at Georgia State, where he compiled a 62-75 record. ECU is 1-2 under Perry.
East Carolina's leading scorer, junior B.J. Tyson will miss his fourth straight game after sustaining a leg injury against Houston on January 11. Tyson was averaging a team-best 11.9 points per game and led ECU in total assists (53) and steals (53) at the time of his injury.
The Pirates have held three of their last four opponents to less than 35 percent shooting from the field and five of nine overall in conference play. ECU ranks seventh among all 351 Division I teams with an opponent field goal percentage of 37.7 percent, while ranking 16th in scoring defense (61.8) and 20th in three-point field goal percent defense (.284).
Graduate transfer Andre Washington is averaging 3.8 blocks per game in conference play, swatting 34 opponent field goal attempts in nine league games. He blocked 30 shots in 13 non-conference games. He ranks second overall in The American with 2.9 blocks per game, which is seventh among all Division I players. His 64 total blocks is first among all American Athletic Conference players and fifth nationally.
Barkley, who was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the second time this season Monday, has led ECU in scoring in eight of the last 10 games and has been its leading rebounder in eight of the last 10 as well. He ranks second on the team in points and rebounds per game and third in assists per game. Since the calendar flipped to 2017, Barkley is averaging 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
With eight points against Memphis Saturday, ECU senior Caleb White became the 11th player in the brief history of The American to score 1,000 points as a league member. White surpassed 1,000 points for his overall career as junior a year ago, but now has 1,002 career points at ECU while competing in The American.
Sheppard is the top assist distributor among all American Athletic Conference freshmen, averaging 3.3 assists per game. He also ranks first among all league rookies with a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio.

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Players Mentioned

Kentrell Barkley

Elijah Hughes

Jeremy Sheppard

B.J. Tyson

Andre Washington

Caleb White

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