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 South Florida.

Pirates welcome Big East foe South Florida to Minges on Saturday night

East Carolina welcomes former Conference USA foe and current Big East member USF to Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum on Saturday night for a 7pm tip-off.

ECU leads the all-time series 3-2. USF won the last meeting, 60-50, when the two teams met in Tampa on February 19, 2005 and the Bulls have won two straight in the series.

The Pirates return home following back-to-back road losses at Liberty (64-56) on last Saturday and in-state rival UNC-Wilmington (59-44) on Tuesday night.

ECU shot the ball horrifically in each of those contests, going a combined 9-of-53 from behind the arc and 17-of-42 from the free throw line. One would think that the Pirates’ shooting could only get better against South Florida, but that’s what you would have thought after the horrendous performance at Liberty as well.

East Carolina was also outrebounded in both of those games. The Pirates’ freshman Gabe Blair (8.6 rpg) is carrying too much of the load on the boards. 6-9 freshman John Fields needs to increase his productivity in that area, as he is averaging only 4.1 rebounds per game. This is not surprising though because Blair possesses more bulk, which makes him more equipped to battle inside.

USF is currently 4-1 and will most likely be 5-1 when they arrive in Greenville. The Bulls travel to first-year Division I program Winston-Salem State on Thursday night.

Robert McCullum is in his fourth season as the head coach in Tampa. USF struggled with last year’s jump to the basketball strong, 16-team Big East. The Bulls finished 7-22 overall and 1-15 in the conference, which put them at rock bottom in the league.

The team returns three starters, which includes senior forwards Melvin Buckley (6-7, 215) and McHugh Mattis (6-6, 190). Coach McCullum is relying on Buckley (39 mpg) and Mattis (35 mpg) to play a lot of minutes. The duo has led USF this season in a variety of ways. Buckley is scoring 19.8 per game and is the team’s top three-point shooter (38.3%). Mattis is tallying 18.4 points. They are also doing a solid job on the boards. Buckley is pulling down 6.6 rebounds per game, while Mattis is grabbing 8.6 boards and blocking five shots per contest.

Solomon Bozeman is scoring 13.2 per game, but also leads the team in assists with 32 (6.4 apg). The 6-foot, 165-pound freshman is knocking down 91 percent (40-44) of his free throws.

As a team, USF is scoring 72.2 points and allowing 61.6 per contest. They are holding their opponents to less than 40 percent from the floor and possess nearly a plus five advantage in rebounds. They are turning it over 16 times per game, but defensively they’re posting just less than nine steals every time out.

FOR EAST CAROLINA TO WIN, IT MUST:

• NOT ALLOW “M&M” TO GO NUTS - It is no secret that Melvin (Buckley) and McHugh (Mattis) do the bulk of the damage for the USF. For the Pirates to win, they must force someone else to attempt to beat them.

• KNOCK DOWN THE TRIFECTA - East Carolina is only going to get so much scoring from its frontcourt this season. In order for the Pirates to be successful in most games, they’re going to have to shoot well from long range. In their past two games, they’ve shot a miserable 9-of-53 from behind the arc and have died by the three.