ECU Closes Out Home Slate Against UConn

Game 30: UConn Huskies
Date:	Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020
Time:	2 p.m. EST
Location:	Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum)
Live Game Coverage:	TV: ESPNU \| WatchESPN.com Radio: WNCT 107.9 FM \| TuneIn Radio Online
Live Stats:	SideArm Sports
Game Notes:	ECU (PDF) \| UConn (PDF) \| The American (PDF)

East Carolina will close out its 2019-20 home schedule Saturday against UConn, which will be making its final appearance inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

The Huskies are rejoining the Big East conference next season.

Coincidentally, ECU's final home game of the 2018-19 season was against UConn, who beat the Pirates by nine 82-73. Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two teams in nearly a year.

The Pirates will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak to the Huskies, who have won eight of nine meetings as American conference foes.

Jayden Gardner averaged 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games against UConn as a freshman, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the home finale. Gardner leads The American with 20.1 points per game and is third with 9.6 rebounds per game.

Gardner had 19 points on Wednesday against South Florida before fouling out with less than a minute to play in regulation. USF outscored the Pirates by five in overtime, sending ECU home with a 73-68 loss.

It was the Pirates' fourth straight game decided by five points or less. ECU lost three of those games.

"It was just frustrating because I wasn't trying to foul at all at the end of the game," Gardner said. "To get those calls is just really frustrating. Have the team fight, go into overtime and I couldn't help them, it was hard."

The Pirates shot 49.2 percent from the field and held USF to 37.7 percent, but allowed the Bulls to score 15 second chance points on 17 offensive rebounds.

"We can't give up as many offensive rebounds as we did," ECU Head Coach Joe Dooley said. "That's very tough to overcome."

The Huskies enter the game on a two-game winning streak and have won four of their last six with their lone two losses each coming on the road by four points, against SMU in Dallas and in double overtime to Temple in Philadelphia. UConn owns a 16-12 overall record and a 7-8 mark in conference play.

Senior guard Christian Vital leads the Huskies with 15.2 points per game, ranking sixth in The American. He is shooting a league-best 90.0 percent at the free throw line and leads the conference with 2.5 steals per game. Freshman James Bouknight is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game, third-highest average among all American conference rookies.

Six-foot-11 junior and Winterville, N.C. native Josh Carlton, who played at South Central High School, had 20 points in each of the Huskies' games against the Pirates last year. This season he is averaging 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Gastonia native Isaiah Whaley is averaging 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

"They've gotten continuously better throughout the season," Dooley said. "They've had a lot of close games. Vital has really gotten on a little bit of a roll and the backcourt is playing very well with Bouknight. I think Whaley and Carlton have really continued to improve up front also."

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Players Mentioned

Jayden Gardner

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