Pirates Set To Host Wichita State Thursday

Game 25: Wichita State (10-14, 2-9 AAC) at East Carolina (12-12, 5-6 AAC)
Date \| Time	February 15, 2024 \| 7:00 p.m. ET
Location	Greenville, N.C. \| Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Game Program	Digital Game Program #5
Coverage	Stream: ESPN+ Radio: 107.9WNCT Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Statistics	East Carolina \| Wichita State \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Wichita State \| 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 is set to return to Minges Coliseum for a two-game homestand, beginning on Thursday evening when the Pirates host Wichita State.

The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip and will be streamed on ESPN+ with Patrick Johnson (play-by-play) and Si Seymour (analyst) on the call. Thursday'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 (analyst) handling broadcasting duties.

The Pirates enter Thursday coming off one of their better offensive performances of the season and best offensive showing in league play, defeating UTSA 84-73 on the road in the program's first game in San Antonio. Brandon Johnson led the way with career highs in points (30), field goals made (10) and three-pointers made (7) and the Pirates recorded a season-high 21 assists in the victory. ECU defeated Wichita State 54-52 earlier this season on the road, behind 19 Shockers' turnovers. The Pirates are looking to tie their most conference wins in a season in the American (six) with a win on Thursday night.

1,000 Career Points Watch
Entering Thursday's game, RJ Felton is only 27 points away from becoming the 34th player in program history to score 1,000 points in a Pirate uniform. Felton has scored at least 10 or more points in 16 consecutive games this season and is having a career season in many statistical categories including points per game (16.2).

Scouting the Shockers
Wichita State enters Thursday night's game coming off a 95-82 overtime loss at home to Florida Atlantic despite getting 20-plus points from Xavier Bell (25 points) and Colby Rogers (21 points) and shooting 50 percent from the floor. The Shockers are led in scoring by Rogers (15.7 ppg) who has made a triple in all 24 games this season and leads the American in three-pointers made per game (2.77), total threes made (66) and is second in three-point percentage (40.2). Wichita State is ranked 23rd nationally in rebounds and 22nd in defensive rebounds per game. The Shockers don't allow easy points at the rim as Quincy Ballard ranks 16th nationally in blocks and tied a career-high in blocks the first time these teams met this season with seven.

Series History
Wichita State leads the all-time series 7-2 but the Pirates have found recent success against the Shockers winning two of the last three meetings after dropping the first six. ECU has not beaten Wichita State at Minges as both Pirate victories have come at Charles Koch Arena.

On This Date
ECU is 5-14 in games played on Feb. 15 since the 1960-61 season with the last game on this date coming last season when the Pirates defeated Cincinnati 75-71 at Minges Coliseum.

Up Next
East Carolina faces Tulane inside Minges Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

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Players Mentioned

RJ Felton

Brandon Johnson

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