East Carolina Basketball Preview: ECU vs. Winthrop

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Other than the eye-opening, resurgent effort of Hinnant, the East Carolina backcourt struggled shooting the ball again. Darrell Jenkins, Cory Farmer and James Legan were a combined 1-of-8 from three-point range and only managed to contribute a total of 13 points. However, Jenkins did dish out nine assists while Farmer tied with John Fields for the team-high in rebounds (6).

The win was South Florida’s third straight. The Bulls (3-3) shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) from the floor and made (22) over twice as many free throws than the Pirates (10). They also took better care of the basketball—turning it over only nine times compared to East Carolina’s 16.

Winthrop will visit Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum on Wednesday Night

Following the 2005-06 season, Gregg Marshall faked Winthrop fans out when he briefly accepted the College of Charleston job before returning to Rock Hill a day or two later.

After last year’s 29-5 finish, Wichita State came calling and this time there was no false alarm. During his time at the helm of the Eagles’ program, Marshall set a very impressive standard. He won 70 percent of his games with a 193-84 record, had six 20-win seasons, and took the program to seven NCAA tournaments.

Marshall left the keys of the program to four-year assistant Randy Peele. Peele was the head coach at UNCG from 1995 to 1999 and led the Spartans to their first ever NCAA tournament in his initial season in Greensboro.

Peele’s staff features two former East Carolina assistants in Larry Dixon (‘05-’07) and Marty McGillan (‘92-’97).

The Eagles soared to a 3-0 mark out of the gates, but they’ve since had their wings clipped a bit and currently sit at 3-2. Their quick start was headlined by a 79-73 win over Georgia Tech in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Their other wins were against Queens (68-61) and Illinois-Chicago (72-58). After winning their first two games in St. Thomas, they fell to Baylor by a 62-54 count in the finale’. The last time out, Winthrop had its 24-game homecourt win streak snapped by Missouri State (73-69).

As a team, Winthrop has eight players getting at least ten minutes per contest. The Eagles are shooting 43.6 percent while their opponents are at 41.4. They shoot the ball well from the perimeter, as they’ve knocked down 39 percent (32-of-82) of their three-pointers.

The Eagles return two starters from last season, but the line-up includes three seniors—Michael Jenkins, Chris Gaynor and Taj McCullough—who played key roles the past couple seasons.

Jenkins, who is from nearby Kinston, NC, is putting up 15.4 points in just under 33 minutes a game to pace his team.

Gaynor doesn’t shoot the ball as well, but still averages 9.8 points per game while playing a team-high 35 plus minutes. He also leads the team in steals (12) and assists (19).

6’7 senior forward Taj McCullough has delivered in his new starting role. McCullough’s field goal percentage of 53.8 leads the squad. He averages 15 points and six boards per contest. He has also drained all 15 of his free throw attempts to date.

The remainder of the starting line-up has consisted of sophomore guard/forward Mantoris Robinson (6’5, 205) and freshman forward Charles Corbin (6’7, 228). The duo averages 6.2 and 7.4 points, respectively.

Keys to Victory for ECU

1. FIND FIELDS - Gabe Blair has made much more of an impact of the offensive end this season. ECU needs John Fields to up his production in the post to take some strain off the perimeter game.
2. MINIMIZE THE “JENKS” - Kinston HS product Michael Jenkins dropped 19 points on the Pirates last season in his team’s trip to Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum. He will undoubtedly be very excited to play in front of his home crowd again.
3. “BRING IT” IN THE BACKCOURT - While the frontcourt production needs to improve, there is no denying that this team will usually go as its backcourt play goes. There have been some solid individual efforts thus far, but the unit really hasn’t put together a solid game as a whole.

Final ECU Prediction & Analysis

These two programs have met in each of the past three seasons and the Eagles have won all of those meetings. Last season, Marshall-led Winthrop led by only three at halftime, but outscored East Carolina 44-28 in the second half to win 69-50 in Greenville. Due to the absence of John Fields, the Pirates were forced to start four guards in that contest.

While ECU is much more equipped personnel wise to challenge Winthrop this year, the Eagles—despite the loss of three starters—possess experience that the Pirates lack. They’ve been a regular participant in the Big Dance and know what it takes to be successful.

ECU will keep this one close at home, but it still lacks the necessary consistency to win. The stable, veteran backcourt of Jenkins and Gaynor combined with the low post presence of McCullough could be too much for the Pirates.

Winthrop 69 - East Carolina 63