Pirates Travel West To Face Charlotte Saturday

Game 23: East Carolina (11-11, 4-5 AAC) at Charlotte (13-7, 7-1 AAC)
Date \| Time	February 3, 2024 \| 2:00 p.m. ET
Location	Charlotte, N.C. \| Dale F. Halton Arena
Game Program	Digital Game Program #5
Coverage	Stream: ESPNU Radio: 107.9WNCT Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Statistics	East Carolina \| Charlotte \| The American
Game Notes	East Carolina \| Charlotte \| The American
Record Book	East Carolina 2023-24 Record Book
Social Media	Facebook \| Twitter \| Instagram \| YouTube \| #GreenvilleGrit

Charlotte, N.C. – The East Carolina basketball team is set to travel west this weekend as the Pirates visit Charlotte to face the 49ers for the first time as American Athletic Conference foes on Saturday afternoon at Dale F. Halton Arena.

The game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. ET tip and will be televised on ESPNU with Anish Shroff (play-by-play) and John Williams (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 (analyst) handling broadcasting duties.

RJ Felton leads East Carolina with 16.1 points per game (7th in AAC) and is fourth in the league in steals per game with two. Ezra Ausar and Brandon Johnson round out the Pirates' top scorers with 13.3 and 13.2 points per game respectively. Johnson leads the team on the glass with 8.6 rebounds per contest which ranks as third-best in the league. Bobby Pettiford Jr. leads the Pirates with 3.6 assists per game and leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.86 (35th in NCAA).

Last Time Out
East Carolina's hopes of winning a third straight conference contest came to a halt on Wednesday night as the Pirates fell 71-60 to South Florida inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Cam Hayes led the Pirates (11-11, 4-5 AAC) with a season-high 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting but the rest of the team combined to go 17-of-47 from the floor and ECU shot under 40 percent as a team for the fourth straight game. RJ Felton scored in double figures for the 14th straight game with 13 points.

Scouting the 49ers
Charlotte enters Saturday's contest on a seven-game winning streak last defeating Tulane, 75-71, on the road Jan. 27 behind four players in double figures headlined by 22 points and 13 rebounds from Igor Milicic Jr. The 49ers are 9-1 at Halton Arena this season. Lu'Cye Patterson leads the 49ers in scoring with 14.3 points per game (14th in AAC) followed by Milicic Jr.'s 13.1 ppg and 8.3 rebounds per game. Dishon Jackson and Nik Graves add 11.1 and 10.1 points respectively. Charlotte features one of the best defenses in the American and in the country allowing 64.7 ppg (3rd in AAC, 29th in NCAA). The 49ers are the best team in the conference at taking care of the ball with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.4 and converting at the foul line, shooting 75 percent.

Series History
Charlotte leads the all-time series with East Carolina 18-10 as the Pirates have taken the last two meetings in the series including its last visit to Halton Arena, a 66-57 victory in the 49er Tip-Off Classic to open the 2020-21 season. ECU is 3-11 all-time in games played on the road against Charlotte.

On This Date
ECU is 8-14 in games played on Feb. 3 since the 1960-61 season with the last game on this date coming during the 2020-21 season when the Pirates sprung an upset at home against No. 5 Houston, 82-73.

Up Next
East Carolina faces UTSA on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

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Players Mentioned

Ezra Ausar

RJ Felton

Cam Hayes

Brandon Johnson

Bobby Pettiford Jr.

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