ESPN3 Tonight: The #21-ranked UH hoops team is in Greenville tonight to play ECU. Don’t sleep on this game: ECU is 2-20 in away games the last two seasons but a respectable 17-12 at home. That’s because ECU at home in Minges Coliseum is a different animal. More on that in a bit.
UH has won 8 in a row in the series dating back over 5 seasons. The Coogs have scored 302 points combined in their last 3 games vs. ECU – the average winning margin has been 43 points. The reason: 59.5% from three-point range.
The closest of the three games was a 34-point win in Greenville last year. This Pirate team, however, is considerably better than that one.
In 2018, UH scored 62 points in the first half vs. ECU. The Pirates have scored more than 62 for a game just once in the last 6 meetings.
ECU hasn’t been within 16 points of UH in that six-game span.
Goin’ To Greenville: In 1998, I walked into Minges Coliseum on Halloween afternoon just before the UH/ECU football game. The building was empty so I went down onto the floor and towards one of the baskets. My first impression was that it was a weird, goofy building.
At some point over the years, two former players have told me that playing at ECU reminded them of going to Autry Court and shooting towards that awful Blue Curtain. You can kinda see why:
A ring of student and GA aluminum seats surround the court while donors sit up higher. With the right crowd stomping on foldup seats, it can get pretty rowdy. Worse than that, though, is that it’s a terrible shooting backdrop for the visitors. Especially for a team that doesn’t shoot it so well.
Key Stat: In 4 AAC games this year at Minges, opponents are shooting 26.1% from three-point range.
I fully expect a win for the Coogs but funky things happen here.
NET Stuff: ECU is #222 in the NCAA NET, the lowest-rated team the Coogs will play in the 2020 portion of the schedule. But thanks to being a road game, it is a Q3 game. Last year, when UH finished #4 in the NET, the schedule included 10 Q4 games. This year, there are just 4.
As it stands, after tonight there are 10 league games left: 4 currently in Q1, 4 in Q2, and two opponents in Q3.
Balance: If DeJon Jarreau scores 14 or more tonight, 5 players will be over 10.0 ppg for the season.
That particular feat has been accomplished just once since 1993. It was in 2001-2002 when the group of Dominic Smith, Louis Truscott, Patrick Okafor, George Williams, and Kevin Gaines each scored 10.0 or more a game.
On The Boards: The Coogs are #3 in rebounds per game at 42.6. And UH is #1 in rebounding margin by nearly a full rebound a game over #2 WVU. UH’s season-long margin is 10.7 rebounds per game.
Key Stat: Away from the Fertitta Center, though, the rebound margin gets even bigger. UH outrebounds opponents by 11.7 a game.
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