East Carolina Basketball Preview: ECU vs. North Carolina Wesleyan

Monday, November 19, 2007

His miss—the first in 14 attempts this year—on the second left the game tied. The Flames pushed the ball up the court and were unable to convert their initial shot; however, the Pirates did not clean the glass and Liberty’s Alex McLean laid it in on the second putback attempt as the horn sounded.

East Carolina shot less than 40 percent for a second straight game—finishing the night at 39.6 percent (21-of-53). The 3-of-14 effort (21.4 percent) from behind the arc allowed Liberty (2-3 overall) to continue to play a zone defense and prevent much inside damage from occurring.

On a positive note, Gabe Blair performed well offensively again. The 6’8 sophomore finished with a team-high 15 points and stepped out to knock down some jumpers in the process. He also had the most spectacular play of the night when he went high to slam home a miss with one-hand during the first half.

Breaking down the Bishops…

After back-to-back two-point losses, East Carolina will look to even its record on Tuesday night when it host Division III foe North Carolina Wesleyan College—which is located in nearby Rocky Mount.

The Pirates and Battling Bishops have met four times on the hardwood, but none since the 1991-92 campaign. NC Wesleyan shocked East Carolina, 70-69, in the 1989-90 season.

John Thompson is in his 13 th year at the helm of the Bishops’ program. However, all three of his assistants are in their first season.

NC Wesleyan enters with a 1-1 mark after splitting a pair of games at the Virginia Wesleyan Cox Communications Tip-Off Classic in Virginia Beach over the weekend. It defeated Rutgers-Newark (73-70) on a last second three-pointer on Friday before losing 83-60 to host Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday. This won’t be the Bishops first game against a Division I opponent this year, as they fell 77-53 in an exhibition contest at Elon.

Senior Lenny Hall (6-0) and sophomore Jarmel Arrington (6-4) lead the Bishops’ backcourt and have proven that they can fill it up. The duo put up 23 points apiece in the win over Rutgers-Newark. Arrington connected on five of his six attempts from behind the arc. Hall has turned it over 13 times through two games.

As one would expect, NC Wesleyan will be undersized on the interior. Juniors Adam Coleman (6-7, 215) and Buddy Williams (6-5, 205) have been the starters. Coleman finished with a 7-point, 9-rebound effort in the loss to Virginia Wesleyan while Williams concluded with 12 points and 4 boards. Freshman Careem Corbett (6-6, 200) has played significant minutes off the bench and is averaging 7 points and 10 boards through two contests.

The Bishops have essentially shot the ball as well as their opponents have and really better when you consider their strong 40 percent effort from three-point range. However, their shortcomings have been largely because of turnovers, rebounding and missed free throws—which has resulted in them attempting 20 less shots than their opponents. NCWC has turned it over 22 times in each of its first two contests while also being outrebounded, 98-75.

Keys to Victory for ECU

1. Shoot the Basketball Better— Regardless of who the opponent is, East Carolina just needs to experience some success shooting the basketball—especially from the outside—in a game. If they want to be a competitive team this season, they are going to need a lot more production from the perimeter game than what they’ve received to date.
2. Dominate Down Low— The Pirates, as you’d expect, have the distinct size advantage versus their Division III opponent. Gabe Blair has been playing well, but it would be nice to get John Fields and Chad Wynn more into the act.
3. Guard the Arch— The Bishops have 16 three-pointers through two games—including 10 in their season-opening win. East Carolina should be able to play effective man-to-man defense that will help limit their effectiveness from deep.

Final ECU Prediction & Analysis

There have already been a lot of upsets this year in college basketball and East Carolina is certainly not good enough that it could or should like past anyone. Meanwhile, North Carolina Wesleyan has to be excited about facing a Division I opponent—particularly one that is struggling like ECU is.

The Pirates need to start quickly like they did against Limestone and establish control of the contest. At any rate, their depth should prove to be too much for the Division III Bishops.

East Carolina 85 - North Carolina Wesleyan 53