East Carolina Begins Florida Trip In Tampa

Game 25: East Carolina at South Florida
Date \| Time	February 17, 2022 \| 7:00 p.m. ET
Location	Tampa, Fla. \| Yuengling Center (10,411)
Game Program	Hoops Digest #5
Live Game Coverage	Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 107.9 WNCT \| TuneIn Radio Online
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Statistics	East Carolina \| South Florida
Game Notes	East Carolina \| South Florida \| The American
Record Book	East Carolina 2021-22 Record Book
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube \| #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With five games to play in the regular season, East Carolina treks to the Sunshine State for a Thursday night matchup with South Florida inside the Yuengling Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the contest will stream live via ESPN+.

The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 1 but was postponed due to COVID-19 developments in the Pirate program.

ECU (12-12, 3-9 AAC) dropped an 80-66 decision to SMU last Saturday. The Pirates were down just three (33-30) at halftime, but the Mustangs hit some key shots early in the second period to pull away down the stretch.

Tristen Newton led ECU with 19 points and Brandon Suggs contributed 14 off the bench. Ludgy Debaut tied a career high with 11 rebounds and picked up two blocks as well. Newton finished with five assists, becoming the eighth player in program history to record 300 for a career. He now has 303 in nearly three seasons in the Purple and Gold.

SMU shot 46.3 percent (25 of 54) from the field and drained 14 of 30 attempts from beyond the arc. Conversely, East Carolina finished at 37.9 percent (25 of 66) overall and was 6 for 22 (27.3 percent) from three-point range. The Pirates outrebounded the Mustangs 39-37 and grabbed 15 offensive boards, but SMU scored 22 points off 13 ECU turnovers.

The Pirates were victorious in their last foray into hostile territory, picking up a 73-71 win over Tulsa last week inside the Reynolds Center. East Carolina is 1-5 on the road this season with losses to Temple, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis and Tulane.

The Competition
South Florida (7-17, 2-10 AAC) lost its third-straight game and seventh out of the last eight in a 76-57 setback to Tulane Tuesday night in Tampa. Serrel Smith Jr. gave the Bulls a spark off the bench with 17 points, but South Florida committed 15 turnovers and allowed the Green Wave to shoot 52.7 percent from the field. The Bulls won the only meeting with the Pirates last season, picking up a 69-63 victory in Greenville.

The South Florida Series
South Florida leads the all-time series with East Carolina 12-9 and has won four of the last five meetings. The last Pirate win over the Bulls occurred by a 62-59 margin back on Jan. 7, 2020 in Greenville. ECU is 3-6 against South Florida in Tampa.

SMU Leftovers
The Pirates dropped to 1-13 against SMU since both teams joined the American Athletic Conference ... The loss was the fourth straight at home since a 10-game winning streak to start the season ... ECU used the starting lineup of Newton, Felton, Robinson-White, Jackson and Debaut for the first time ... The Pirates outrebounded an opponent for the 13th time this campaign ... Newton has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.

Up Next: East Carolina makes the short trip from Tampa to Orlando for a Sunday afternoon affair versus UCF.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ludgy Debaut

Tristen Newton

Brandon Suggs

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