Pirates begin Texas two-step against high-powered Houston tonight

Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. (EST) at Hofheinz Pavilion

It was evident that East Carolina head coach Mack McCarthy’s frustration was growing during the waning minutes of Saturday night’s 87-66 loss to UTEP at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum.

Sure, he was disappointed in his club being soundly defeated, but he was more concerned with the effort and body language that it exhibited. The veteran coach felt the Miners’ run, which moved the margin from two to 24 during the last ten minutes of the second half, was certainly aided by many of his players hanging their heads.

Losing six of seven can test any team’s mindset, but particularly one that lacks many veterans. However, with such a small margin for error—which stems from a lack of depth and size, East Carolina has to be focused and on top of its game in order to be successful. Thus, the Pirates can’t afford any hangover from Saturday’s contest if it expects to challenge Tom Penders’ talented Houston Cougars tonight.

While it dropped an 83-76 decision at Southern Miss on Saturday, Houston (11-4, 2-1) is having another terrific season under fifth-year coach Tom Penders. The Cougars, who are seeking their fourth trip to the postseason in five years, are particularly tough at Hofheinz Pavilion—where they are 7-1 and defeated UAB, 75-56, in their lone CUSA home game to date. Last year, Houston had an outside chance at earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, but those chances were all but done after they suffered an 87-84 loss at East Carolina on March 1st. Sam Hinnant sank eight three-pointers and finished that contest with 30 points. The Cougars also missed the NIT, but finished their year 24-10 after making it to the semifinals of their inaugural CBI tournament.

Houston possesses a very fast-paced, high octane attack. The Cougars average nearly 80 points per game and have four starters averaging at least 11 points. Yet, they take very good care of the basketball as they turn it over less than ten times per contest.

Junior guard Kelvin Lewis (6’4”, 190), an Auburn transfer, leads the way. Lewis, who plays more than 36 minutes per game, averages 20 points and has knocked down just over 40 percent of his 121 three-point attempts.

Junior college transfer Aubrey Coleman (6’4”, 200) is second in both scoring and rebounding. He scores 18.1 points while also pulling down 8.2 boards per game. He has shot a team-high 102 free throws and converts 75 percent of those attempts.

The frontcourt production has come primarily from Marcus Cousin and Qa’rraan Calhoun. Cousin, who began his career at Seton Hall, is 6’11, 250 pounds. The Cougars’ center averages 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds. Calhoun, who stands 6’8” and 215 pounds, provides Houston with a lot of versatility. The junior college transfer averages 11.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. He has knocked down 24 trifectas and is shooting nearly 39 percent from deep.

Final ECU v Houston Analysis & Prediction

When you’ve lost six of seven and you’re struggling on defense, Houston isn’t exactly the opponent you want to attempt to get well against. However, they’re the next foe on East Carolina’s docket and it will be interesting to see how this young Pirates team handles the steadily growing adversity against the very talented Cougars.

If ECU sulks the way it did during the latter part of the second half against UTEP, this one will be over in a hurry. However, if the Pirates play like they have at times this season they can probably compete with the Cougars, who aren’t quite as big as the Miners were and have had their own defensive woes. This is particularly true if sophomore forward DaQuan Joyner makes his return to the line-up.

The Pirates’ backcourt must play much better than it did against UTEP. When Houston turns up the heat defensively—and they have to be salivating after watching the second half of the UTEP game, ECU must attack it.

East Carolina must fine tune its defense as its offense has failed to produce 70 points in the last six contests. Offensively, the short-handed Pirates must pick the right times to run and get easy baskets in transition.

ECU’s confidence and execution simply aren’t where they need to be in order to beat a more talented Houston team on its homecourt.

Houston 83 - East Carolina 64