Pirates Head To Orlando To Face UCF

Game 12: East Carolina at UCF
Date \| Time	Jan. 27, 2021 \| 7:45 p.m. ET
Location	Orlando, Fla. (Addition Financial Arena)
Game Program	Hoops Digest #4
Live Game Coverage	Stream: ESPN+ Radio: WNCT 107.9 // WRHD 94.3 FM \| TuneIn Radio Online
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Statistics	ECU \| UCF
Game Notes	ECU \| UCF
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube \| #OnePirateNation

Following 14 days between games, East Carolina will resume action for the second time in four days Wednesday night as the Pirates face UCF at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando on Wednesday, Jan. 27, as part of a doubleheader with the women's teams.

The doubleheader begins with the women's game between the Pirates and Knights at 5 p.m. with the men's game slated to begin at approximately 7:45 p.m.

East Carolina (7-4, 1-4 AAC) and UCF (3-6, 1-5 AAC) are both mired in extended losing streaks that have them each in the bottom tier of the conference standings along with Cincinnati and Tulane with one conference win apiece.

The Pirates have dropped three straight and the Knights have lost five in a row and neither team was won a game since Dec. 22, 2020.

ECU was forced to pause all basketball activities on Jan. 14 following COVID-19 testing and contact tracing didn't hold a team practice again until Jan. 21. The results of those tests left the Pirates without their head coach and multiple players on Sunday against Memphis.

"It was miserable [watching the game on TV]," ECU Head Coach Joe Dooley explained. "I wasn't happy that I was unable to be there and I wasn't very pleased with the way we played. It was a different experience. You feel a little bit helpless because you can't do some things, but that's where we are at this point in our country."

Although they put four players in double figures, the shorthanded Pirates were overwhelmed by the Tigers, who had established a rhythm after playing its third game of the week.

Tremont Robinson-White led the Pirates with 15 points, while Brandon Suggs had 11 and Jayden Gardner and Tristen Newton each added 10.

Gardner is averaging 15.7 points and 7.9 rebounds this season, ranking among the top five in The American in both categories. Suggs and senior J.J. Miles are also averaging approximately 10 points per game.

"The real disruption for us has been [missing] practices," Pirate head coach Joe Dooley said. "Our timing was off. We looked disoriented, which is frustrating. One side of me understands, the other side is that you don't want to make excuses or give anybody an out. You sit here on the fence and try to figure out how best to help these guys."

UCF experienced a similar disruption earlier this month and went 12 days between games and missed seven days of practice from Jan. 2 -14. The Knights went on pause a couple weeks ago due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the program, postponing games against Memphis (Jan. 5) and Tulsa (Jan. 9).

The Knight lost their last outing to SMU, 78-65, allowing their opponent to shoot 57 percent from the field after halftime while shooting just 31 percent themselves. Darius Perry had 14 points and seven assists for UCF with Brandon Mahan adding 13 points and C.J. Walker 10.

Mahan leads a foursome of Knights in double figures with 14.7 points per game. Darian Green, Jr., Darius Perry and Isaiah Adams are each averaging better than 11.5 points per contest.

ECU has lost nine straight to UCF and have yet to beat the Knights led by coach Johnny Dawkins (0-7).

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Players Mentioned

Jayden Gardner

J.J. Miles

Tristen Newton

Tremont Robinson-White

Brandon Suggs

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