Pirates Look To Make It Two In A Row Against USF

Game 29: South Florida Bulls
Date:	Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020
Time:	7 p.m. EST
Location:	Tampa, Fla. (Yuengling Center)
Live Game Coverage:	Stream: WatchESPN.com Radio: WNCT 107.9 FM \| TuneIn Radio Online
Live Stats:	SideArm Sports
Game Notes:	ECU (PDF) \| USF (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

After losing its two previous games by a combined seven points to pair of upper division conference foes, East Carolina was finally able to grind out a close victory Sunday as they took down Temple, 67-64.

The Pirates will look to ride that momentum into Wednesday night's game at South Florida and earn a season series sweep of the Bulls, who have lost four in a row.

An ECU victory would knot the all-time series at 10-10 and move the Pirates into position for a high seed in the quarterfinals of the upcoming American Athletic Conference Basketball Championship.

Since becoming American Athletic Conference foes, the two teams have split the 12 meetings, 6-6 with the Pirates winning two of the five meetings in Tampa and four of six in Greenville. USF defeated ECU at the 2016 American conference tournament in Orlando.

East Carolina pulled out a 62-59 win over USF at home in early January, closing the game on a 7-2 run after leading by 13 seven minutes into the second half. Bitumba Baruti sank the game-winning three and Tristen Newton hit both ends of a one-and-one Jayden Gardner blocked the Bulls' game-tying 3-point attempt out-of-bounds.

Gardner finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds to raise his three-game career averages against South Florida to 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

He had 15 points and 15 rebounds as a freshman against the Bulls in Greenville.

An American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year candidate, Gardner is coming off arguably his most complete game of the season, scoring 29 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out four assists and collecting three steals on Sunday against the Owls.

"We already know what we are going to get from (Gardner), which is a terrific effort, but I thought a guy like Miles James hadn't been playing any and he pops up and gives you seven points in 17 good minutes," ECU Head Coach Joe Dooley said. "We were fortunate that Miles stepped up. ... His attitude has been great and it was cool to see him get rewarded. He had seven points, but more importantly, I thought he moved the ball and defended and did his job."

Gardner has either made or assisted on 51 percent of all East Carolina field goals over the last three games. Gardner has accounted for 27 field goals and 10 assists in those games.

Newton has scored double figures in three straight, six of the last seven and eight of the last overall, raising his average from 8.0 points per games through the first 18 games to 10.2 through 28 games.

Junior JJ Miles has also raised his game over the last three weeks. Since becoming a starter five games ago, Miles has averaged 10.4 points per game and shot 37.0 percent (11 of 29) outside the 3-point arc. Miles shot just 28 percent in non-conference play, but has connected on nearly 37 percent of 3-point attempts in The American.

East Carolina is averaging 68.5 points per game this season, but reaching that mark will once again be a challenge against South Florida's defense which has allowed only 62.2 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Bulls 17th among Division I teams and second in The American.

Offensively, South Florida ranks last in the conference with 62.1 points per game. During their current four-game slide, the Bulls have averaged just 58.0 points per game and allowed 65.3.

Junior David Collins leads the Bulls with 14.0 points per game followed by senior Laquincy Rideau, a preseason all-conference selection, with 12.7 points per game. Rideau is tied for the league lead in steals and ranks 10th nationally with 2.41 steals per game.

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Players Mentioned

Bitumba Baruti

Jayden Gardner

Miles James

Tristen Newton

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