EAST CAROLINA HOOPS 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 UNCW and updates you on ECU's 2006-2007 basketball season.

WAR AT THE SHORE: Pirates travel to rival UNCW on Tuesday night

Ricky Stokes will take his Pirates (4-2) into a hostile Trask Coliseum on Tuesday night to play the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks in a 7pm tip-off. This will be East Carolina’s fourth road game, but it has not played in a difficult environment like it will face in Wilmington. The Seahawks are also probably the best team that the Pirates will have played to date.

UNCW leads the all-time series, 31-26, but it has really dominated this series in recent history. The Seahawks have won 19 of the 25 games played at Trask Coliseum. The series dates back to 1963.

The two teams have only played once since ECU left the Colonial Athletic Association following the 2000-2001 season. The series was renewed last season when UNCW traveled to Greenville for a New Year’s Eve game. The Pirates and first-year head coach Ricky Stokes broke through with a big upset, defeating the favored Seahawks, 82-69. East Carolina came out red hot, built a 27-9 lead and cruised to the victory. Sam Hinnant led the way for ECU with 18 points and seven boards. Courtney Captain and Jeremy Ingram finished with 15 and 11, respectively. The trio helped the Pirates shoot 8-of-16 from behind the arc in the game.

UNCW first-year head coach Benny Moss, who spent the last six seasons at Charlotte as Bobby Lutz’ top assistant, is well aware of the rivalry between the two Eastern North Carolina universities.

“I’m very familiar with the rivalry,” Moss said. “Since both schools are located in the eastern part of the state, and were in the same league for a period of time, this means a lot to the alumni at both institutions. There’s a lot of excitement on our campus about the game and I’m sure it’s the same way at ECU.”

UNCW lost several key players from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. Moss’ club has been up and down to start the season. The Seahawks have played a much more difficult schedule than the Pirates and enter with a 2-4 record. They started the season by splitting a pair of NIT games, beating Belmont (88-83) and falling to Tennessee (87-75).

Their losing streak reached three games following their losses at in-state foe Campbell (100-94) and College of Charleston (SC) (91-70).

After four road games, the Seahawks finally played a home game when they welcomed the Big 12’s Colorado Buffaloes to town. They collected a solid 67-55 win over the Buffs.

The season is only a few games old, but UNCW appears to be playing a much more up-tempo style than in recent years. It is scoring 74.2 points per game. In recent years, that would have made the Seahawks nearly unbeatable, but this time around they’re surrendering 79 points per game and 46 percent shooting from the floor.

An up-tempo game could favor the more athletic Pirates. The Seahawks’ Moss speaks highly of the East Carolina backcourt and the athleticism present on the Pirates’ roster.

“ECU has a very athletic team. They attack in transition off missed field goals, but also execute and run a lot of half-court sets. They’re a very good offensive rebounding team. They are outrebounding the opposition by six rebounds a game and really go to work on the offensive glass.”

ECU is outrebounding its opponents by nearly six boards per contest, but Liberty controlled the glass in the Pirates’ loss to the Flames. Freshman Gabe Blair is pulling down a team leading 8.3 rebounds.

Darrell Jenkins leads the Pirates in scoring with 14.5 points per game, but he is also dishing out 6.8 assists per contest. Lone senior Courtney Captain has also stepped up big, but it is the Pirates’ point guard Jenkins that makes the team go. When you add Jeremy Ingram, Sam Hinnant and Cory Farmer into the mix, East Carolina’s backcourt possesses nice depth. Each member of the group can knock down the three or put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket.

The Pirates had done a decent job of protecting the basketball prior to their poor showing at Liberty. The Seahawks’ play has been rather sloppy, as they’re averaging slightly over 19 turnovers a game.

UNCW is led by 6-10, 265-pound junior Vladimir Kuljanin, who is posting 17 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Guards Temi Soyebo (6-0, 175, Sr.) and Daniel Fountain (6-4, 210, Jr.) are both averaging slightly over 11 points and are two of the team’s best outside threats. They are shooting just less than 40 percent from behind the arc. Freshman guard Darryl Felder (6-3, 180) has made nine of his 19 attempts from long range.

The Seahawks’ post players are bulky and could give East Carolina’s slim freshmen, Gabe Blair and John Fields, problems. The Pirates must guard against foul trouble or they could get handled on the interior as they did the last time out.

FOR EAST CAROLINA TO WIN, IT MUST:

• TAME TRASK- There will likely be 6,100 or so fans packed into Trask Coliseum on Tuesday night. The Seahawks have won 16 of their last 17 games at home. The Pirates have lost ten straight in Wilmington and they can ill-afford to allow the UNCW fans to get anymore into the game than they will already be.
• BUCCANEER BLITZ- The Pirates prefer to use their athleticism and force an up-tempo game. UNCW has struggled to handle the ball. ECU needs to force turnovers and convert them into some easy fast break points.
• “FREE” BOOTERS- Just when you thought the Pirates free throw woes could not get any worse, they did. East Carolina shot only 10-of-27 from the charity stripe in their 64-56 loss at Liberty. They are now shooting a miserable 56.5 percent on the year (83-147). UNCW is shooting a strong 72.6 (61-84). If the Pirates hope to beat UNCW for a second straight season, this must improve.