East Carolina Basketball Preview: ECU vs. NC State

Thursday, November 6, 2007

However, the Tigers answered the Pirates’ mini-run with a 16-7 spurt that was capped off by freshman Terrence Oglesby’s sixth trifecta of the night that made it 67-44 Tigers with 9:38 to play.

The duo of freshmen Terrence Oglesby and Demontez Stitt scorched East Carolina. Oglesby, who finished the game with 22 points, was en fuego and connected on 6-of-7 three-pointers—including one from about 25 feet while taking a shot to the mid-section. His effectiveness from deep stretched the Pirates’ zone, which allowed freshman point guard Demontez Stitt the ability to penetrate and create. Stitt concluded the contest with 13 points and five assists.

The Tigers were the first ACC team to visit Greenville since former league member South Carolina made the trek during the 1969 season.

The Tigers, who shot 46.7 from the floor—including a red hot 12-of-24 from behind the arc, placed four players in double figures.

East Carolina failed to do a good job of dictating the tempo. It took several quick shots—including many that were ill-advised. These could have likely been the result of them not being able to execute well enough against the Tigers in the half court.

While senior point guard Darrell Jenkins did record nine assists in the game, he also committed four turnovers and took poor shots that essentially equated to turnovers. He must do a better job of managing the game.

Hinnant led ECU with his 16-point effort. Cory Farmer and Gabe Blair also reached double figures for the Pirates—finishing with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Blair also pulled down a team-high eight boards.

The taller, more physical Tigers hammered the Pirates, 50-26, on the glass—which resulted in far too many second chance points.

One bright spot for ECU was that it sank 21-of-30 attempts from the charity stripe.

#24 Wolfpack will make first trip to Greenville on Saturday

Prior to Clemson’s visit on Wednesday, an ACC team had not traveled to play basketball at East Carolina since the 1969 season. Well, the Pirates will only have to wait a couple days until they receive another visit from an Atlantic Coast Conference foe, as No. 24 North Carolina State will make its first ever trip to Greenville on Saturday night.

The Pirates trail the all-time series 17-0, but NC State was forced to rally from a 15-point first half deficit to defeat ECU, 64-57, at the RBC Center in Raleigh a season ago.

The Pirates' zone was torched for 12 three-pointers by Clemson. However, many of them came from well beyond the line.

The Wolfpack, who will have not played in nine days when Saturday’s game rolls around, are off to a 4-2 start under second-year head coach Sidney Lowe.

NC State was mauled 81-58 at Michigan State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge the last time out. Its other loss was in the second game of the season when New Orleans pulled out a 65-63 win in Raleigh.

Three of the Wolfpack’s four victories came in Orlando at the Old Spice Classic over Thanksgiving. After surviving a scare versus Rider (72-63) in their opener, they won two nailbiters against South Carolina (63-61) and Villanova (69-68). Their other win came at home in their season debut against William and Mary (66-47).

The Wolfpack does not shoot the ball particularly well from the outside, but they do manage a respectable 45.7 percent from the floor thanks to strong inside play. NCSU has been outrebounded by an average of three boards per contest while committing five more turnovers than their opponents (14.8 to 9.7).

J.J. Hickson leads the NC State attack. The fabulous 6’9, 242-pound freshman is shooting 73 percent from the floor and leads the team with 18.5 points per game. Hickson, who has only started twice thus far, also grabs a team best 8.3 rebounds per contest.

Fellow frontcourt members Brandon Costner (6’9, 238) and Gavin Grant (6’8, 208) join Hickson as Pack players in double figures. Both are averaging ten points and five boards per game and each has the ability to knock down shots from behind the arc. They are tied for second on the team in three-pointers made.

The trio of Hickson, Costner, and Grant are ranked one-two-three on the team in turnovers, however.

Junior Ben McCauley (6’10, 238), who posted his first career double double when he recorded 20 points and ten rebounds against ECU last season, has started four games. He is only averaging slightly over four points and three rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

Junior Courtney Fells and Iowa State transfer Farnold Degand anchor the backcourt. Fells, who made a team-high eight trifectas, posts nine points and nearly five boards per game. The former Cyclone Degand averages eight points, but paces the team with 18 assists.

Keys to Victory for ECU

1. “ZONE OUT” WOLFPACK - The strength of this NC State team is the play of its frontcourt. The Wolfpack only shoot 31.3 percent from beyond the arc. East Carolina will need to play an effective zone defense in an attempt to combat the size and strength differential while forcing NCSU to attempt to win from deep. It would be nice if Chad Wynn could see more playing time to help in this effort. If the Pirates do attempt to play any man-to-man, look for potential mismatches with Costner and Grant stepping out.
2. IMPROVED SHOT SELECTION - The Pirates took several poor shots in the loss to Clemson and will need to be more selective against NC State. Darrell Jenkins could set the tone with more consistent play at the point. ECU should seek to take advantage of the transition opportunities when they present themselves, but not consistently fire up three-pointers only five or ten seconds deep in possessions.
3. MINGES’ MAGIC - Although the ECU program is pretty barren when it comes to the tradition department, it has managed to produce a few scattered upsets against traditional powers and Top 25 competition down through the years. For the Pirates to surprise the Wolfpack, the crowd will need to be a factor; therefore, when opportunities to make plays that will get the crowd involved are presented, they must take advantage. NCSU will seek to take the Pirate Nation out of the game in the first half like the Tigers did on Wednesday.

Final ECU Prediction & Analysis

This game should be more competitive throughout than the Clemson loss was. While NC State is a very talented team, they are not as deep as the Tigers. Don’t be surprised if the Pirates give their in-state rival a scare, but in the end the Wolfpack’s frontcourt could be too much for the smaller Pirates to handle.

NC State 72 - East Carolina 61