Pirates Set To Face SMU Saturday

Game 17: SMU (10-5, 1-1 AAC) at East Carolina (9-7, 2-1 AAC)
Date \| Time	January 13, 2024 \| 4:00 p.m. ET
Location	Greenville, N.C. \| Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Game Program	Digital Game Program #4
Coverage	Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 107.9WNCT Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Statistics	East Carolina \| SMU \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| SMU \| The American
Record Book	East Carolina 2023-24 Record Book
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube \| #GreenvilleGrit

GREENVILLE, N.C. – The East Carolina men's basketball team returns home for a two-game homestand beginning on Saturday afternoon as the Pirates take on SMU inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start and will be streamed via ESPN+ with Patrick Johnson (play-by-play) and Si Seymour (analyst) on the call. Saturday's game can also be heard on the ECU Sports Network 107.9 FM or 9.43 The Game with Daron Vaught (play-by-play) and Michael Perry handling broadcasting duties.

RJ Felton leads ECU with 16.6 points per game (7th in AAC) and Brandon Johnson and Ezra Ausar round out the Pirates' top scorers with 14.9 and 13.6 points per game respectively. Johnson leads the team on the glass with 9.2 rebounds per contest which ranks as second-best in the league and has recorded six double-doubles including three in the team's past six games. Johnson was tabbed to the AAC's Weekly Honor Roll on Jan. 8.

Game Notes

The Pirates are off to their best three-game start in American Athletic Conference play since the 2019-20 season when ECU started 2-1. ECU also won back-to-back games in the AAC with the win over Temple for only the sixth time since joining the league prior to the 2014-15 season.
Felton has scored in double figures in the Pirates' last eight games.
Johnson has grabbed eight or more rebounds in ECU's last nine contests.
Ausar has shot 88 percent (14-of-16) from the free throw line in the Pirates' last two games.
In ECU's first three conference games, Bobby Pettiford Jr. has recorded 14 assists to only two turnovers.

Last Time Out
RJ Felton scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting as East Carolina earned its first road win of the season, defeating Temple 73-62 on Wednesday evening at The Liacouras Center. Ezra Ausar added 18 points for the Pirates (9-7, 2-1 AAC), who improved to 2-1 in conference play for the first time since the 2019-20 season and earned their first-ever win at The Liacouras Center. Brandon Johnson continued his recent stretch of strong play, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Scouting the Mustangs
SMU is coming off a 62-59 loss on the road to then-No. 15 Memphis last Sunday that snapped their four-game winning streak. Tyreek Smith led SMU with 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss. The Mustangs are 2-2 in road games this season. Zhuric Phelps leads the Mustangs in scoring with 14.3 ppg and Chuck Harris adds 12.7 points per night. The Mustangs are one of the top defensive teams in the conference, ranking second in scoring defense (61.7 ppg), first in blocks (5.1) and first in field goal percentage defense (36.6 percent) and three-point defense (26.3 percent). SMU's scoring defense and field goal percentage defense is eighth and second nationally.

Series History
SMU leads the all-time series with East Carolina 20-6 and the Mustangs have won five of the last six meetings as the teams split last year's season series with the Pirates winning 77-72 in Greenville. The Pirates are 4-8 against the Mustangs inside Minges Coliseum.

On This Date
ECU is 2-15 in games played on Jan. 13 since the 1960-61 season with the last game on this date coming during the 2018-19 campaign when the Pirates lost on the road to UCF, 65-76.

Up Next
East Carolina wraps up its homestand against North Texas on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ezra Ausar

RJ Felton

Brandon Johnson

Bobby Pettiford Jr.

Footer