EAST CAROLINA HOOPS UPDATE AND LIBERTY PREVIEW

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our ECU Correspondent Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum previews the basketball game between East Carolina and Liberty and updates you on ECU's 2006-2007 basketball season.

How the Pirates are progressing...

The Pirates improved to 4-1 last weekend with two home wins over Division II competition. This young team continues to get better with each game and will attempt to win four games in a row for the first time since the 2003-2004 season when it travels to Lynchburg, VA on Saturday to take on the Liberty University Flames of the Big South Conference.

East Carolina, which is much more athletic than it was a season ago, is playing a more up-tempo game this year. The Pirates are averaging 74.6 points per game. They are shooting the ball considerably better than last season, as they’ve shot 45.1 percent from the floor through five games. This includes 36.1 percent from behind the arc. However, ECU’s struggles from the free throw line have continued, as they are only shooting 60.8 percent on the year.

Ricky Stokes and his staff have a much deeper bench to turn to this season. The Pirates normally go about nine or ten deep, and possess a very talented backcourt. The frontcourt is young and talented, but not nearly as deep. ECU has two extremely skilled freshmen in John Fields and Gabe Blair, but after that they just have a couple “role” players.

Blair is playing 30 minutes per game and is nearly averaging a double double. The 6-8 freshman is scoring 9 points per game, but is also pulling down a team leading 8.2 rebounds.

Fields is scoring 9.8 per game, but his presence has been felt the most on the defensive end. The long, lean Pirate freshman is blocking an average of 4 shots per contest and already has some East Carolina fans talking about his potential to eclipse Moussa Badiane’s East Carolina and CUSA record.

The Pirates appear to have solid team chemistry and they really play well together, especially when you consider how young their team is and how little they’ve played with one another. They have taken decent care of the basketball, averaging 13 turnovers each time out.

Other than the coaching staff’s leadership, this chemistry starts with solid play at the point guard position and the Pirates have been getting it from newcomer Darrell Jenkins. The junior, who transferred to ECU from the College of Southern Idaho, leads the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game. He is also the Pirates’ top three-point shooter thus far, as he is connecting on 42.3 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. Jenkins is distributing the ball well, and is averaging 7.4 assists per game.

Courtney Captain, this team’s lone senior, is also providing tremendous senior leadership with his strong performances. Captain is averaging 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He is shooting 52.4 percent from the floor, which includes 41.7 percent from three. He has been the team’s best free throw shooter, as he is at 86.7 percent on the season.

Junior Jeremy Ingram, who has undergone four knee surgeries, has provided the team with a serious spark off the bench. He is playing 16 minutes per game, but is still averaging 8 points and 3.4 boards.

Defensively, the Pirates are really playing hard. They have limited opponents to 60.6 points per game and held them to 36.1 percent from the floor. They are outrebounding the opposition by an average of nine boards per contest.

A look at the Liberty Flames…

Saturday, December 2 – 7pm – at Liberty – Lynchburg, VA – Vines Center (10,000)

Series History: East Carolina leads 5-0

Last Meeting: November 28, 1998 – East Carolina 80 Liberty 56

Randy Dunton is in his sixth season at the helm of the Liberty program. Last season, his Flames finished with a 7-23 overall record and 3-13 mark (eighth) in the Big South Conference. They return all five starters from that team and should be an improved team this season.

LU is off to a 3-1 start, but all three wins are over non-Division I competition (Cincinnati Christian, Houghton College and Southern Virginia University). Their lone loss came in their opener at Oklahoma, as they fell to the Sooners by a score of 74-48. The Flames also lost to Barton College, one of Division II’s top teams, in an exhibition game.

The competition has not been very strong at all, but Dunton’s club is averaging 87.5 points per contest through four games. The Flames are shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and 38.8 from three. They have taken advantage of their opportunities from the stripe, as they’re connecting on 73 percent of their free throws.

Defensively, Liberty is holding its opponents to 34.6 percent from the field and 62.2 points.

The Flames’ leader is 6-0, 185-pound senior Larry Blair. The Charlotte-native, who is 11 th on the all-time scoring list in the Big South Conference, is scoring 23.5 points and pulling down 4.5 rebounds per outing. He is also averaging four assists per game. Blair scored 23 points against the Sooners in the opener.

On the inside, Liberty is led by 6-8, 235-pound junior forward Alex McLean. McLean is nearly averaging a double double. He is posting 17.8 points and 9.5 boards.

Blair receives help in the backcourt from sophomore Anthony Smith (6-4, 185).

Senior forward Damien Hubbard (6-6, 210) and redshirt freshman forward Ty Baker (6-9, 215) appear to be the Flames’ top rebounders behind McLean. Hubbard is grabbing 8.5 per game while Baker is pulling down 6.3.

Of interest…

Karl Hess, who is probably best known for officiating big-time college basketball—primarily in the ACC, SEC and Big East, will have his jersey retired on Saturday night. The former Liberty standout is the school’s all-time leading scorer and also holds several other Flames’ records.