Pirates Welcome No. 1 Houston To Minges Saturday

Game 28: Houston (26-2, 14-1 AAC) at East Carolina (14-13, 5-9 AAC)
Date \| Time	February 25, 2023 \| 8:00 p.m. ET
Location	Greenville, N.C. \| Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (7,100)
Game Program	Hoops Digest #6
Coverage	Watch: ESPN2 Radio: 107.9 WNCT
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Statistics	East Carolina \| Houston \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Houston \| The American
Record Book	East Carolina 2022-23 Record Book
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube \| #PurpleReign

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina men's basketball team returns home this Saturday night when the Pirates welcome top-ranked Houston to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2 with James Westling and Perry Clark on the call.

When the Pirates take the floor on Saturday night, it will be the first time that the men's basketball team has played an Associated Press No. 1 team in Minges Coliseum.

Last Time Out
Jaden Walker scored a career-high 24 points as East Carolina earned a gritty road win over Tulsa 62-60 on Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. RJ Felton added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates, who picked up their second conference road win of the season. Ezra Ausar, Brandon Johnson and David Kasanganay all provided huge plays in the second half to help the Pirates rally for the win.

Scouting the Cougars
Houston is coming off a dominant 89-59 win at home over Tulane on Feb. 22, led by J'Wan Roberts' career-high 26 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor. Marcus Sasser added 22 points and six assists and Jarace Walker recorded a near double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds. The Cougars are led in scoring by star guard Marcus Sasser at 16.5 points per game (7th in AAC). Freshman phenom Jarace Walker averages 11.6 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. Walker has earned AAC Freshman of the Week six times this season. Houston has yet to drop a road game as well with a 9-0 record in true road games.

Series History
Houston leads the all-series with East Carolina 18-6 and has won nine of the last 10 meetings. The Cougars have an 8-6 record in Greenville with the last time being a Pirate upset over No. 5 Houston 82-73 on Feb. 3, 2021, for the program's first win over a team ranked in the top-five and ending a 33-game losing streak versus opponents slotted in the AP Top 25 poll.

On This Date
ECU is 1-8 in games played on Feb. 25 since the 1960-61 season. The last time the Pirates played on this date was during the 2017-18 season when ECU lost to Houston on the road 109-58.

Up Next
East Carolina welcomes Tulane on Wednesday, Mar. 1 for its final home game at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ezra Ausar

RJ Felton

Brandon Johnson

David Kasanganay

Jaden Walker

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