ECU Looks To Bounce Back At Cincinnati

Game 18: at Cincinnati Bearcats
Date:	Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020
Time:	6 p.m. EST
Location:	Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Live Game Coverage:	TV: ESPNU Stream: WatchESPN.com Radio: WRHD 94.3 \| TuneIn Radio Online
Internet Options:	Live Stats
Game Notes:	ECU (PDF) \| Cincinnati (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

After having its six-game homecourt winning streak snapped Wednesday, East Carolina heads to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats on Sunday night at Fifth Third Arena.

This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this season after playing just once in Greenville last season. ECU claimed a 73-71 victory inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum with then-freshman Jayden Gardner scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds before Justice Obasohan blocked Jarron Cumberland's game-tying attempt with one second remaining.

Both teams enter the game with two losses in the American Athletic Conference and both teams as coming off losses in which they only scored 49 points.

"Similar to us, they missed some shots," ECU head coach Joe Dooley said. "They had some good looks and they had some shots where they missed a couple. They missed some shots they usually make. It was the same things with us. We were atrocious offensively, so hopefully we will bounce back."

After opening league play with a close loss at Wichita State, ECU posted back-to-back home wins over South Florida and SMU before losing to Tulsa Wednesday.

Cincinnati opened conference play at 3-1 with each of its three victories coming by a minimum of 14 points. The Bearcats suffered their second conference loss Thursday night at Memphis, 60-49. Cumberland led UC with a game-high 19 points, while Keith Williams added 12 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

Cumberland, the reigning American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year, is averaging 15.0 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent outside the arc over the last six games.

Overall, Cumberland is averaging a team-best 13.7 points per game followed by 7-foot-1 center Chris Vogt with 13.2 and Williams at 12.4 points per game. Vogt leads the conference and ranks among the top five nationally, shooting 68.8 percent from the field.

John Brannen is in his first year guiding the Bearcats after four years across the state line at Northern Kentucky, leading the Norse to a pair of Horizon League regular season and tournament titles with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2017 and '19.

Through five league games Cincinnati is holding opponents to 57.0 points per game, 37.5 percent shooting and 25.9 percent outside the arc.

ECU will continue to look to Gardner to lead the way. Despite having his eight-game 20-point scoring streak snapped Wednesday, he still leads the conference in scoring at 21.2 points per game and ranks third in rebounding (9.1 rpg) and fourth in field goal percentage (.562).

The Pirates will be looking to put their Tulsa performances behind them.

As a team, ECU was 14-of-48 (29.2%) from the floor, including 2-of-26 from deep.

The Pirates are only 2-12 against the Bearcats and 0-7 in the Queen City but are familiar with playing in hostile environments this season.

"It's hard to play on the road and the goal is to try and steal a win on the road," ECU junior Tyrie Jackson said. "It's going to be tough. We played pretty good against Wichita, so we're looking forward to playing good against Cincinnati."

Players Mentioned

Jayden Gardner

Tyrie Jackson

Justice Obasohan

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